


Why’d you come in here looking like that

by olive_greets



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (& other fun stuff), Choking, Dom/sub Undertones, Frottage, Jaehyun is Johnny's princess, Jazz Club AU, Light kinks, M/M, Multi, Porn with Feelings, Recreational Drug Use, Rimming, Semi-public phone sex, Threesome - M/M/M, Waiter! Ten, actually kind of sweet, established johnjae, johnjaeten, noir-ish, sensual hair washing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27058318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olive_greets/pseuds/olive_greets
Summary: Ten knows he shouldn’t stare at the customers. Really, he does. But can he help it, when the customers in question are tall and handsome, and watch Ten with a look of such unrestrained desire that it makes him weak in the knees and pink in the face?
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 143
Kudos: 414





	1. The Ace of Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)
> 
> (on hiatus until march, thanks for your patience!)

* * *

Ten knows he shouldn’t stare. Really, he does. He isn’t sure what’s gotten into him these past few nights; normally, he is a consummate professional, and even the flashiest of customers never turn his head. Usually, the customers give him no more than a cursory glance as he sets down their drinks, if they are polite. Most of the typical patrons at the lounge are too busy watching the musicians or trying to charm their much younger dates to pay the waitstaff any mind. It doesn’t bother Ten. He has come to enjoy how he can move around the jazz club like a shadow, slipping between the haze of smoke and mirrored walls to settle into dark corners behind the array of red leather booths, waiting for the subtlest of hand signals to call him over to refill a glass or take an order.

He usually pays the patrons no more attention than they give him – it’s efficient and cold, but it works, and it’s that kind of professionalism and discretion that gives the Ace of Hearts jazz club such a golden reputation among the high-rollers of the city.

So, yes, staring at customers is certainly not in the job description. But can he help it, when one of the customers in question had called him over two nights prior to request a Manhattan, hold the cherries, and had made intense eye contact with him the entire time? Although Ten doesn’t normally stare, he recognizes most of the regular customers by face alone and can bring them their drink of choice before they fully settle into their seats. Ten is sure he would have remembered this man had he come in before tonight, as he is much younger than most of the regulars; he can’t be older than thirty, although the dim, smoky blue light of the club often masks the subtler signs of aging. The man had also ordered a whiskey neat for his friend who was yet to arrive.

Ten broke the eye contact – which was harder than it should have been, thanks to the deep amber color of the man’s eyes which seemed to pull at Ten like magnets - to give a curt bow of the head and slink off to the bar to place the order with the bartender. As he hovered by the bar, the music swelled to its final crescendo, followed by a low rumble of applause and pleased murmuring. When the band struck up its next tune, a soulful brass number, Ten’s eyes drifted to the booth where the tall man was sitting, long legs spread like he owned the place, head tilted appraisingly up at the stage. He must be a businessman of some sort, given the cut and quality of his dark grey suit. Advertising, maybe. Or the arts.

Because it was the middle of the week, the club was emptier than it would have been this late in the evening on a weekend. This gave Ten some time to catch his breath and enjoy the music. As he leaned against the alcove at the far end of the bar, his eyes again caught on the young man in the booth. The man turned his head suddenly towards the entrance and Ten followed his gaze to see a tall man striding between the tables, in an equally well-cut navy suit, his tie loosened slightly at the top. The man in the booth stood up and clasped the other man on the back, one hand resting on his shoulder while his other hand dipped to his lower back for an imperceptible moment. Both men settled into their seats and, after exchanging a few words in each other’s ears, leaned back to watch the musicians.

The bartender gently cleared her throat behind Ten and pushed the finished drinks towards him. Slightly embarrassed by the questioning look she gave him – he was usually not so easily distracted - he gave an apologetic smile and stacked the drinks carefully on his tray. He slipped between the tables and made his way down to the booth, minding the steps and ducking so as not to block anyone’s view of the performance.

He set the drinks down, keeping his eyes trained on the table, then turned to walk back to his regular spot by the wall.

“Wait.” Ten looked up at the voice, which cut clean through the music. He made sudden eye contact with the new arrival. Like his tall friend in the gray suit, this man was equally as young and almost alarmingly handsome, with a cold, teasing smile on his lips that complemented the firm dominance of his voice. “What is this?” the man asked, pointing to the crystal tumbler in front of him.

“Whiskey neat, sir. Is it to your liking?” Ten found it impossible to hold the gaze of this man any longer, so he settled his eyes on the man’s lips instead (not much better: they were dusky pink and angled into a sharp line in his unblemished face).

“No, not really. I’ve had a long day, boy, and whiskey always puts me on edge. Get me a glass of wine, would you?”

“Of course, sir, right away – ”

“Jaehyun, where are your manners? That’s no way to talk to a waiter.” Ten looked up in surprise at the tall man, who was now smiling kindly at him. “It’s my mistake – what’s your name?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Ten’s breath caught pathetically in his throat for a second before he regained his composure. “Ten, sir.”

The tall man’s smile grew. “It’s my mistake, Ten, I thought Jaehyun would be in the mood for liquor tonight, but it looks like I was wrong. I’ll keep the whiskey, and if you wouldn’t mind, he’ll have a glass of your finest cabernet sauvignon.” Ten braved a glance at Jaehyun, who was staring at Ten with a dark, unreadable expression. Impolite customers never bother Ten. They almost never get under his skin. Yet something about Jaehyun’s tone … it bothered him, but not in a way he could easily describe. He felt the barest hint of a flush begin to creep up his neck.

“Right away, sir, apologies for the confusion,” Ten replied quickly.

“None of this ‘sir’ business - just call me Johnny, and we’re all good.” Johnny settled back into the booth, where Ten couldn’t help but notice the way his hand drifted to rest on Jaehyun’s navy-clad thigh. Ten ducked his head, then hurried back to the bar for Jaehyun’s wine, certain he could feel both of their eyes on his retreating back.

* * *

Jaehyun and Johnny had come back the next night, and the night after that, settling into their same booth off to the side of the stage, where they would sit with their heads close together, often deep in a conversation. Sometimes Johnny would have his arm slung casually over the back of the booth behind where Jaehyun was sitting; other times, his hand would be on that same spot on Jaehyun’s thigh, holding it loosely yet somehow possessively. They didn’t chat with Ten either of these times, too absorbed in the performance or whatever it was they were talking about, but Ten was sure he caught them watching him – or maybe he imagined it, call it delusion or wishful thinking – their dark eyes following him as he made his silent rounds of the booths. Try as he might to ignore it, it always sent a thrill down his spine, a feeling like being caught in the gaze of a lion. Or, a pair of very hungry lions.

They don’t show up the next night, and Ten finds his eyes snapping to the door anytime new patrons enter through the dark blue velvet curtain marking the entrance of the room.

* * *

The Friday night crowd slowly begins filling up the booths at the Ace until every seat is taken, with many standing around tables by the back wall or milling around next to the stage. The band is on top of their game tonight; dressed in snazzy white suits, brass instruments freshly polished, they fill the club with music that has even the most stoic of old businessmen tapping their feet against the marble floors.

Ten’s childhood training as a ballet dancer serves him well on nights like these, as he balances a tray in each hand and swings himself through the lively crowd with practiced ease. While he prefers the relative quiet of weeknights, the tips are always better on weekends, thanks to the drunk, wealthy patrons who aren’t too cautious about parting with their pocket change.

The room soon fills with the ashy, sulfuric scent of cigar smoke. Ten maneuvers over to his usual alcove by the bar, tactfully avoiding eye contact with any customers. As he breathes in the clean air coming from the small window nearby, he makes eye contact with the bartender, Shuhua, who is currently on the receiving end of an ill-fated flirtation attempt by a much older woman decked out in an impressive amount of pearls. Shuhua rolls her eyes at him and he bites back a smile.

Shuhua catches his eye again, and she jerks her head meaningfully to a small table near the other end of the bar. Ten panics for a moment, worried that the floor manager must have seen him sneak off for the break, but his stomach drops to the floor when he catches sight of the two familiar faces.

Standing at least a foot above everyone next to them are Johnny and Jaehyun. Johnny is well-dressed as ever, this time in a pin-striped charcoal suit that hugs the outline of his body, while Jaehyun is unusually casual in a white button-up with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing strong forearms. They are both leaning against the table with their drink of choice in hand, deep in conversation as usual. He can’t help the way his face heats up when he sees them, and he sinks further back into the shadow of the alcove, hoping they hadn’t noticed him and yet somehow wishing they would.

Ten feels Shuhua’s eyes on him. He can almost imagine the knowing look she gives him. _Is he really that obvious?_ He straightens out his waistcoat and takes a calming breath. He can’t remember the last time he was this flustered, for any reason. Just as he is about to grab his tray and set off back into club, he sneaks a glance towards the end of the bar and finds two sets of eyes watching him.

Jaehyun’s dark gaze flicks over him for a moment before he looks away to drain his wineglass. Johnny looks at him a moment longer, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. Ten is sure they must be able to hear the racing of his heart from there. As before, he can’t pull his eyes away from Johnny, who seems to hold him in a trance. Johnny breaks the spell when he raises his tumbler between two slender fingers and shakes it, still looking at Ten. Ten stares at him, confused, before realizing that Johnny’s glass is empty. Hoping that the room is dim enough to hide his flush, which has only deepened, he stumbles out of the alcove and hurries over to the small table.

In their usual spot in the booth, Johnny and Jaehyun’s size has always been apparent; yet, standing next to him now, they tower over him. He notices that Johnny is a bit taller, but Jaehyun is broader. Ten lets his gaze fall somewhere in the air between the two of them (not that there is much air there; they are standing awfully close, with Jaehyun’s massive arm pushing up against Johnny’s shoulder).

“Refill, sir?” Ten breathes, secretly pleased at how even his voice sounds.

He feels rather than hears Johnny chuckle, a deep, throaty sound that seems to cut through the air between them.

“What did I say last time? Please, call me Johnny.”

“Yes, Johnny, sir. A refill for you?” When Johnny doesn’t respond, Ten forces himself to look up. Johnny has one dark eyebrow raised at him. Jaehyun just watches, face tactfully blank.

“Your name is Ten, isn’t that right?” Johnny drawls.

“Yes, sir. I mean – yes,” Ten mutters, feeling heat begin to pool somewhere deep inside him from the way Johnny is looking at him. The feeling of Jaehyun’s gaze on his cheek isn’t helping, either. A slight grin grows across Johnny’s face, and he makes eye contact with Jaehyun for the briefest of moments.

“Sure, Ten, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ll have a refill. Then we’ll take the check. It’s been quite a long night.”

“Not long enough,” Jaehyun says suddenly, the stone mask of his face cracking just slightly to let a dangerous smile slip through. Ten wants to fall through the floor. He doesn’t trust himself to speak, so he reaches for Johnny’s empty tumbler. Johnny must be feeling merciful because he lets Ten take the glass from his hand without much resistance.

Ten turns on his heel and scurries back to the bar, so distracted that he almost knocks into another waiter carrying a tray full of champagne glasses. After apologizing profusely, he makes it the final three feet to the bar, certain that Johnny and Jaehyun had seen the whole thing and fills the glass himself. He pointedly ignores Shuhua’s snickering.

After a few calming breaths and a glass of ice water, Ten carries the whiskey and the check on the tray and sets it on the table in front of the two men. Jaehyun’s suit jacket is back on and he has two long overcoats slung over his arm. Ten turns again to leave, but Johnny holds out a hand and says, “wait -” before downing the drink in one go and slamming it back on the table. He slides a wad of bills deftly out of his pocket and onto the tray without looking at the price on the check. “Keep the change.”

With that, Johnny and Jaehyun are gone as quickly as they entered, leaving Ten a bit breathless and red all over. Ten leaves the money by the register and goes about the rest of his shift still fully distracted, thinking about the warm intensity of Johnny’s gaze and the powerful muscle of Jaehyun’s pale forearms. 

By midnight, the club is still in full swing, but Ten’s shift is done. As he and Shuhua are sitting on the ratty couch in the changing room to sort through the tips for the night, he spots a folded piece of cream white paper flutter out from a stack of bills. Shuhua catches it first. Ten watches with mild curiosity as she unfolds the paper. A weird expression grows across her face, and she looks up at Ten with a look somewhere between curiosity and incredulity.

“What?” Instead of answering, she hands the paper to him.

Written in a long, slanted handwriting is a short message, just five words that set his ears on fire. _Ten - the Plaza, room 920_

* * *

A cold rain had started to fall by the time Ten steps off the bus. Some other people are out, but the streets are mostly quiet save for the distant rumbling of traffic and the rustling of wind in the trees from the park across the street.

The doors of the hotel are closed but the lobby inside is brightly lit and casts a glowing yellow rectangle onto the street outside. A bellhop swings the door open for him, and he steps self-consciously through the doorway into the swanky interior, feeling entirely out of place among the crystal chandeliers, rich mahogany furniture, elaborate murals, and gleaming tiled floors. He feels like he has stepped into Milan, or maybe Vienna. He walks quickly past the check-in desk, avoiding eye contact with the clerks. A few guests sit by the bar on the far side of the lobby, where the delicate sounds of a piano echo off the marble floors.

Ten is surprised to find an attendant in the elevator, who politely bats Ten’s hand away when he tries to push the button himself. “Nine, please,” he mutters, embarrassed, and resigns himself to fixing his hair in the mirrored wall of the elevator. The change of clothes he had brought to work – a pair of black jeans, beige knit sweater, and canvas sneakers – suddenly feel way too casual when he thinks about Johnny and Jaehyun’s expensive-looking suits. Whatever, it’ll have to do.

The elevator reaches the ninth floor much sooner than Ten would have liked, as his hair is still a bit of a spiky mess when the attendant kindly ushers him out. Compared with the quiet chatter of the lobby, the hallway is almost completely silent. A plush patterned rug dampens the sound of his footsteps as he walks down the hall, scanning the numbers on the doors: 914, 916, 918, 920. He stops in front of a normal-looking white door. His heart is pounding out of his chest, and yet, compared with the swell of nerves from earlier, now he feels an excited thrill course through him. He steels himself and knocks once, twice – then suddenly, there is Johnny, still in his suit but with the jacket removed. Johnny positively beams down at him, and Ten feels his knees weaken under the gaze. The room behind Johnny seems dark.

“You came,” Johnny says. It isn’t a question, so Ten doesn’t respond. All he can do is meet Johnny’s eyes and nod. Johnny steps back and lets Ten inside, but the entryway is narrow and Ten feels the heat and closeness of Johnny’s body as he slips past Johnny into the room.

It is smaller than he was expecting – just a modest (yet still richly decorated), two-roomed hotel suite, with a large king-sized bed in the middle and bar in the corner, dimly lit by two stained-glass lamps. Ten’s eyes are immediately drawn to the bed, and not because of the thread count of the sheets or the impressive embroidery of the duvet cover.

Jaehyun is clad only in a pair of boxers, splayed out on his back against the pillows with one arm folded casually behind his head. He looks over when Ten walks in and makes no move to cover himself. Ten can’t help himself; he lets his gaze rove over Jaehyun’s wide frame, starting from his suspiciously rumpled hair to the muscular plane of his abdomen, down his long legs and feet.

Ten startles when Johnny materializes next to him and rests a hand gently on his shoulder.

“I hope you’ll forgive me; we weren’t sure if you’d come, and Jaehyun got a little impatient.”

Ten swallows down the small whimper that threatens to escape his throat once he realizes what Johnny means. “Oh,” is all he can say. Just now, he notices the pinkness of Jaehyun’s cheeks and the heaving of his chest, and – Ten feels a throb of arousal course through him at the sight – the bulge that presses conspicuously against the hem of his shorts. He was pretty sure what their note had been implying, although he had had the nagging worry that he had read the signals wrong. But no, he is pretty sure that is situation is exactly what it looks like.

Johnny removes his hand from Ten’s shoulder and steps over to the bar, leaving Ten to continue staring like an idiot at Jaehyun, who had started rubbing his free hand over his chest, and up and down his abs.

“Do you want a drink, Ten? You must have had a long day at work,” Johnny says in a completely jovial, conversational tone, as though one of the sexiest men Ten has ever seen had not just closed his eyes and started moaning quietly to himself while rubbing a hand over his own body like neither of them were there.

Ten’s mouth is dry as sandpaper and his pants are starting to feel uncomfortably tight. Yet he manages to snap himself out of the haze of arousal that consumes him to turn to Johnny, blinking, and says, “oh, no thanks. I don’t drink.” Johnny smiles and sets the bottle of V.S.O.P and empty glass back down on the counter.

“Water, then?” Ten nods gratefully as Johnny hands him an unopened bottle of water from the minifridge below the bar. That was a lie; Ten does drink, but he hasn’t worked in the nightlife industry for as long as he has to start accepting open drinks from strangers. Even if those strangers are regular customers and aren’t setting off any alarm bells in his head (and just in case, Shuhua knows exactly where he is). The cool water calms him down, though he still feels a bit dizzy.

Johnny watches him curiously. “Are you feeling okay? I know it can be a bit intimidating, the two of us together.” Ten shakes his head.

“I’m fine. I’m good,” he says.

“Good,” Johnny responds, and he sounds like he means it. “Why don’t you get comfortable, then? Your feet must be killing you.” Ten nods in response and slips off his shoes, which he sets down by the entrance to the room. As tempted as he is to climb onto the bed next to Jaehyun, he instead folds himself carefully into an armchair a few feet from the bed, face burning at the feeling of Jaehyun’s nearly naked body so close to him.

Johnny walks from the bar to the bed and perches himself on the edge of the bed. He rolls up his shirt sleeves. “If you’d rather watch for now, I can show you what we were doing while we were waiting for you.” At this, Jaehyun finally opens his eyes and grins up at Johnny.

“Sounds good to me,” Jaehyun says in a low, throaty voice.

“Of course it sounds good to you, you greedy princess,” Johnny teases, even as he crawls onto the bed towards Jaehyun, still in his slacks and button-up. Ten doesn’t know what to do with his hands, doesn’t know what to do with himself, but he can’t look away when Jaehyun swivels his head to hold his gaze through heavy-lidded eyes. Johnny places a large hand on Jaehyun’s bare thigh. Jaehyun shudders, biting his lip, but doesn’t break eye contact with Ten.

Ten’s mouth falls open as Johnny rests his other hand on Jaehyun, sliding them up and down his long thighs. Jaehyun’s muscles tense under Johnny’s touch but he doesn’t move, just breathes out a shaky sigh as his eyelids flutter slightly.

Johnny slips one hand under Jaehyun’s boxers and Jaehyun lets out a gasp, arching up into the touch. The look on Johnny’s face is so different from how he had looked a moment ago; now, he stares intently down at Jaehyun with a look of pure desire, his own lips parted slightly around deep sighs when Jaehyun twitches under him. Just when Jaehyun starts getting really worked up, Johnny suddenly leans down and traces his lips along the pink expanse of Jaehyun’s chest, breathing hot onto his skin. 

Ten is dizzy. His head is spinning from how aroused he is; he doesn’t think he has ever seen something so … so hot in his entire life. He doesn’t know where to look – the flushed pout painted across Jaehyun’s beautiful face, the strong arch of Johnny’s back as he leans over Jaehyun, the hint of tongue that flashes when Johnny moves his mouth up to Jaehyun’s pretty, muscular neck. He doesn’t know where to look, doesn’t know what to do. His hand drifts reflexively down to his own lap, where he has become almost painfully hard beneath the tight fabric of his jeans. He presses his palm into himself; this relieves some of the pressure, but it isn’t enough. He slips his other hand under his sweater and traces circles over his chest, which is now flushed and heaving from his rapid breathing and swipes his thumb over a nipple. He can’t help the whine that slips out of his mouth at the touch – it’s too much, it’s all too much.

At the sudden sound, Johnny pulls his face away from where he had been busy painting Jaehyun’s neck with his tongue, to look over at Ten. Ten feels a brief flash a shame creep across his face, but it feels too good to stop, so he holds Johnny’s gaze even as he continues rubbing at himself. Johnny and Jaehyun are now both looking at him, a feeling which is entirely overwhelming, but not for the reason Ten would have expected. The shame is quickly forgotten, replaced instead by a weird pride – even power – he feels, from having both of these powerful men watching _him_ , wanting to put on a show for _him_.

Suddenly – “come here,” Johnny practically growls at him. Almost like he is being pulled by a magnet, Ten stands and walks to the edge of the bed. Johnny takes his hands off Jaehyun – who is more than happy to replace Johnny’s hands with his own – and stands next to Ten. Ten is at eye-level with Johnny’s sternum, and he can see the flush of pink below the crisp whiteness of his shirt.

“Can I take this off?” Ten hears himself saying, his fingers drifting of their own accord to the pearlescent buttons on Johnny’s shirt.

“Please do,” Johnny murmurs. Behind them, Jaehyun has started up his moaning again. Ten finds that his fingers are shaking when he undoes the first button, then the second, the third, - until just one button holds the fabric together. The muscular plane of Johnny’s chest is slowly revealed to him, and Ten breathes out a pleased noise when Johnny shrugs his shoulders and the rest of his shirt slides away, onto the floor by his feet. Johnny is leaner than Jaehyun, but his muscles are no less defined, and Ten instinctively lifts his hands to feel.

“Nuh-uh,” Johnny scolds gently, reaching up to circle his hands around Ten’s slender wrists before he can touch him. “You too.” Ten blushes, then reaches down to pull his sweater over his head in one swift movement. Johnny pulls delicately at the waistband of Ten’s jeans and Ten takes the hint, pulling off his jeans and briefs as gracefully as he can. Almost immediately, Johnny loops his long arms around Ten’s waist and runs his hands up his sides. “Beautiful,” Johnny breathes. His fingers brush a particularly sensitive spot just above Ten’s hips and Ten shudders into the touch.

They are both breathing unsteadily, and Ten wants nothing more than to press his hips into Johnny’s and touch him until he loses sensation in his fingertips. He waits instead for Johnny to make the next move. Johnny does – lifting one hand to grip firmly at the back of Ten’s head, he cranes his long neck down towards Ten, stopping just shy of his mouth.

Ten can feel Johnny’s hot breath on his face, tinged by the faint, bitter scent of whiskey. He watches Johnny’s tongue dart out to wet his lower lip, then closes his eyes when Johnny closes the miniscule gap between their mouths.

Johnny’s mouth is hot and his tongue presses immediately against the seam of Ten’s lips. Ten parts for him easily and lets Johnny take control of the kiss. His whole body is on fire, white-hot pleasure spreading in tingly waves from his lips through his veins and nerve endings. Johnny lets Ten suck at his thick upper lip for a blissful moment then regains control, letting their lips fall apart for an unbearable second as he angles Ten’s body towards the bed.

Ten’s knees catch on the edge of the mattress and suddenly he is falling back on to the bed with Johnny pressing down into him, slotting their hips together in slow, grinding movements. Ten whimpers into Johnny’s mouth, which elicits a deep groan in response. Johnny pushes him further up the bed, setting him carefully down so his head falls onto a fluffy pillow. Ten grabs greedily at Johnny’s shoulders, pulling him down on top of him again.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” comes a voice to Ten’s left. Ten pulls his face reluctantly away from the warmth of Johnny’s mouth to come face-to-face with Jaehyun, who looks even more riled up than he had before – and all from just touching himself while Johnny and Ten went at it, Ten realizes with a thrill.

“Of course not, babe,” Johnny pants, extracting himself from Ten’s grasp. Johnny sits back on his heels and Ten’s breath hitches at the sight of Johnny’s erection straining against his slacks. “Why don’t we let Ten have a go at you?” Ten’s heart hammers out of his chest while Jaehyun smirks at this, letting his arms fall back behind his head.

Ten nods up at Johnny’s questioning look. He rolls onto his side and turns to face Jaehyun, who still looks up at him with that bratty, expectant look of his.

Ten isn’t sure where to start, for a moment. He wants so desperately to touch Jaehyun, to touch all of him, but he also wants to impress Johnny, to impress them both. He crawls forward on his knees, flushing as Jaehyun’s gaze wanders over his exposed body.

For some reason Jaehyun is still wearing his boxers, which aren’t doing a very good job at containing his arousal. Ten follows Johnny’s path up Jaehyun’s thighs with his own hands, then tugs gently at the hem of his boxers. The fabric falls away almost immediately, and Jaehyun’s erection springs out, thick and pink from all the attention Jaehyun had already been giving it. Ten lets out a noise deep in his throat at the sight. He turns behind him to look for Johnny – for what, exactly, he’s not sure; approval, permission, maybe. Johnny still rests on his heels, his gaze dark with want as he watches the two of them.

Ten turns back to Jaehyun, then finishes pulling his boxers all the way down his legs. He positions himself between Jaehyun’s thighs. Just as he is about to lean down, he feels Johnny’s warm, strong hand rest on his back. Johnny runs his hand up and down the delicate arch of Ten’s spine; the movement is both reassuring and firm, restrained yet needy. Johnny pushes ever-so-slightly on Ten’s back, lowering him the rest of the way to Jaehyun’s length.

Ten wraps his hand around the base, which is thicker than it looks as his hand just barely fits all the way around. Above him, Jaehyun sighs. Ten wants to look at him, but he still finds himself intimidated by Jaehyun’s statuesque beauty, so he focuses on the heavy weight of Jaehyun in his hands instead. Jaehyun, already so hard, throbs under his grasp.

Jaehyun’s erection is impossibly warm in his mouth and sits heavy on his tongue. Above him, Johnny continues to run his hand over Ten’s back, and Ten feels something wet on his skin: it is Johnny, who has begun kissing and sucking at his upper back and neck with increasing intensity.

Ten tightens his grasp around Jaehyun and takes the rest of him in his mouth, twisting his hand as he runs his tongue up and down the length. Jaehyun, finally putting his hands to use other than to touch himself, runs his fingers through Ten’s hair, guiding Ten’s mouth around him at a faster pace.

Ten hums around him and Jaehyun groans in response, bucking his hips up reflexively. Ten pulls himself off to cough, then dips right back down to resume his pace. Jaehyun’s moans get deeper and louder, and Ten feels him throbbing and twitching against his tongue.

“Johnny,” Jaehyun gasps out in a strangled kind of moan. Ten lets Jaehyun fall out of his mouth and makes room for Johnny, who grabs Jaehyun in his hand and starts rubbing until Jaehyun spills over Johnny’s fingers and onto his own stomach. Jaehyun arches his back and _whines_ , locking his eyes with Ten as Johnny works him through it. Johnny murmurs low words to Jaehyun until Jaehyun finally relaxes against the bed, breathing out a shaky sigh and closing his eyes. Johnny reaches for a box of tissues to wipe his hand, then discards the tissue carelessly over the side of the bed.

Johnny must be some kind of superhuman – as far as Ten knows, he hasn’t touched himself once this entire encounter, and his erection is still straining against his pants completely untouched. Johnny notices Ten watching and chuckles. “I’m very patient,” he says, as though that explains it.

Ten’s mouth feels red and stretched out and his jaw hurts a bit, but he is too far gone to care. Ten is sure Jaehyun would have fallen asleep by now, but his eyes are open slightly and he watches Johnny and Ten lazily.

“What do you want me to do now?” Ten asks, blushing. His voice sounds hoarse, and Johnny notices.

“I’ll get you some water, then I’ll show you what I want, okay?” Johnny says, again with that perfect mixture of dominance and gentle reassurance. Ten nods, pink in the face, then leans down against the pillows next to Jaehyun. To his surprise, Jaehyun makes a kind of beckoning motion and parts his lips. Ten catches on and makes no hesitation to roll against Jaehyun and lick into his mouth. Jaehyun’s body is hot, almost burning up, and still a bit sticky, but that makes it so much sweeter. Ten tangles their legs together as the kiss turns lazy, mostly just the messy glide of tongues and the occasional pull of a lip between teeth. Jaehyun rolls their hips together and Ten almost jumps at how good the sudden friction feels against him. Jaehyun smells sweet like cologne and fresh sweat.

“Still thirsty?” comes Johnny’s amused voice from above them. Ten pulls himself reluctantly away from Jaehyun to look up at Johnny, who is holding a tall glass of water in one hand.

“Parched,” Ten says, and the scratchy quality of his voice attests to that. He sits up and drains the glass, then sets in on the nightstand. He can feel himself becoming bolder. “Alright, now what would you like me to do, sir?” Beside him, Jaehyun lets out a quiet laugh.

Johnny’s expression remains amused, though something more dangerous flashes across his eyes. “What did I say about that, hm? Just Johnny.”

“Okay, Johnny, sir.” Ten is pushing his luck, he knows that. He’s not afraid of Johnny but he is afraid that Johnny might change his mind and decide not to let Ten touch him. Which would be a travesty, of course. Johnny stares at him. Ten feels himself become flustered under that amber gaze.

“On your stomach, then,” Johnny says suddenly, striding over to the bed and climbing on.

“What about your pants?” Ten asks, though he does as Johnny says, excitement pooling in his gut as he settles onto his stomach, propping himself up slightly with a raised knee. 

“He likes to leave them on,” Jaehyun says lazily, stifling a yawn even as he looks down at Ten’s plump ass with a very interested expression.

“Really?” Ten asks, feeling slightly disappointed that he won’t get to feel Johnny (at least, not in the way he was hoping).

Johnny swats at Jaehyun’s shin. “You’ve had your turn, princess, this isn’t about you,” he says, his tone loving despite the barely concealed annoyance.

“What? It’s true,” Jaehyun mutters, settling deeper into the cushions and yawning again.

The sheets are smooth against Ten’s skin and he rubs his cheek against them. His own neglected erection is trapped between his body and the mattress, so he rubs his hips down slightly to relieve some of the pressure. He feels Johnny’s firm hand rest on his waist, then the rest of Johnny’s huge body follows, holding Ten closer against the mattress. The clothed mass of Johnny’s impressive length presses against his ass as Johnny starts to move, breathing hot and heavy onto Ten’s neck as Ten rolls up his hips to meet Johnny. Johnny props himself up on one forearm to give Ten more room to move and lets Ten take over most of the movement. Johnny starts groaning out pleased noises deep in his ear, which encourages Ten to roll his hips up faster, hardly aware of the burn in his lower back and thighs. The fabric of Johnny’s pants and the sheets against his bare skin have him tingling from head to toe, moaning into his own arm, his mouth falling open and wet.

Johnny drags himself deeper and firmer – or as deep as he can go with his heavy arousal still fully trapped in his slacks – stuttering his hips into Ten. Ten angles his ass higher up and Johnny grabs him by his stomach, hauling him back onto his lap. They move together like this until Johnny finally takes Ten into his hand, squeezing and timing the movement of his hand to that of his hips. The feeling is overwhelming but incredible, and he still hasn’t even touched Johnny properly. Ten can’t believe how good it feels, to have Johnny touch him like this, to have Johnny _need_ him like this. He lets desperate moans fall out of his lips when Johnny grips him tighter, feeling the telltale build-up of warmth in his gut.

He reaches around behind him to grab desperately at Johnny’s biceps and hair, tugging at the raven-black strands with desperate need. Johnny takes the hint and tightens his grip, raising his other hand to clutch it around Ten’s waist, digging his fingers into the soft flesh. The sensation is beyond amazing, feeling himself get bounced around on Johnny’s lap, feeling the growing wetness in Johnny’s pants when he presses down against him.

Johnny whispers shakily into his ear, “doing so good,” and that’s all it takes for the heat in Ten’s gut to overwhelm him until suddenly he is trembling in Johnny’s grasp, white-hot pleasure pulsing through his entire body as Johnny continues murmuring in his ear. His thighs are shaking but he keeps moving himself anyway, trying to feel Johnny’s hardness against him for as long as possible. Eventually Johnny eases him off slowly and lowers him down next to Jaehyun again, who watches through one open eye. There is a buzzing in his ears and spots in his vision, but Ten feels as light as a cloud, fully blissed out.

Ten opens his eyes long enough to see Johnny pressing his palm against his crotch with one, two presses, until he throws his head back with a loud moan and the dark spot against the front of his pants grows. Johnny stays like that for a long moment as his breathing slowly returns to normal, allowing Ten to admire the tanned expanse of his neck and wide shoulders, a completely wrecked expression on his handsome face. Eventually Johnny opens his eyes and smiles down at Ten. He pats Jaehyun’s foot, then climbs off the bed towards the bathroom, flicking off one of the lamps on his way over.

* * *

Ten doesn’t remember Johnny coming back to bed, as he falls asleep almost as soon as Johnny dims the lights. Yet when he wakes the next morning, slightly disoriented and more than a bit sore in his lower back and thighs, he finds Johnny sleeping deeply between the two of them, his muscular chest rising and falling slowly in the low morning light. Beside him, Jaehyun is curled up into Johnny’s other side, one arm slung across his chest.

Ten dresses quickly, searching for his discarded clothes in the still-dark room. Before he leaves, he casts a look back at the bed and feels a swelling in his chest at the sight. As tempting as it is to crawl back into the warm bed, he can’t stay. He opens and closes the door as quietly as he can behind him, then takes the staircase all the way down to the first floor. He can barely stay awake on the bus, and after letting himself into the side entrance of the Ace with the spare key, conks out on the couch in the staff room until Shuhua finds him at 3 in the afternoon, snoring loudly and wearing the same clothes from the day before.

* * *

Ten still knows he shouldn’t stare. But he still can’t help himself, not when just two nights later, a tall man and his handsome companion settle themselves into their usual red booth by the stage, order their usual whiskey and glass of red wine, and watch Ten with a look of such unrestrained desire that it makes him weak in the knees and pink in the face. He shouldn’t stare; but is it so bad to stare, if the two men started staring at him first? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, what is this and why did I write it? Good question. Did I have time to write it? No, of course not. But grad school is kicking my butt so I thought, what better way to spend my time than writing some ill-advised yet tasteful Johnjaeten smut  
> I just feel like this ship is criminally underrated.  
> (Also, why is Shuhua from G Idle in this? no idea. It's 2:24 am).
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting (if you want to!) <3
> 
> (Title is a Dolly Parton song)


	2. Sweet Tooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I'd be adding anything to this fic ... but here I am two weeks later lol. I developed this idea while waiting in line to vote, because what else do you do with 1-2 hours of standing out in the cold? And if 6 ft of social distancing is good for one thing, it's so the people near you can't see what you're writing on your phone 🙃
> 
> (also Jaehyun isn't really in this one, but when/if I write more, he'll def be back!) enjoy :p
> 
> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)

* * *

All it takes is a heated glance to send Ten over the edge.

Johnny had arrived on his own, as usual, with Jaehyun following not long after. Ten tries to act natural, but he can’t help his eyes from roaming over to the booth in the corner, where the two men sit and follow him around the room with their gaze. They spend almost an hour in the booth, sipping their drinks while Johnny massages Jaehyun’s thighs under the table. On one pass by their table, Ten feels a hand brush over his lower back on his way back to the bar. He startles, nearly dropping his tray, and turns around in surprise only to find Johnny grinning lazily up at him, the offending hand now resting innocently on the table. Ten flushes a deep shade of red; just seeing Johnny’s face, seeing his long thighs spread wide in his booth, sends blood rushing south real fast. Johnny is in a light gray suit and his hair is slicked back – a new look for him – and he looks even more handsome than usual, if that’s possible. Jaehyun is in a dark suit of his own, his hair slightly rumpled and his eyes dark and tired-looking. 

Kept busy by a boisterous cluster of tables on the far end of the room, Ten doesn’t notice Jaehyun leave. Instead, when he looks back over, he is surprised to find Johnny now on his own, tumbler of whiskey balancing between his long fingers as he watches the musicians.

Johnny makes eye contact with him and tilts his neck gently, in a motion that seems to whisper, _come here_. Ten blushes and makes his way to Johnny’s booth, trying not to act too excited. He bends over Johnny’s table and makes a show of wiping up a nonexistent spill, just in case the floor manager happens to be watching. Johnny rests his elbows on the table and quirks a smile up at Ten. Ten bites his lip and smiles coyly in return, meeting Johnny’s eyes for a fraction of a second before resuming his wiping.

“Where’d Jaehyun go?” Ten mutters, barely moving his lips. Johnny shifts forward in his seat and leans towards Ten.

“Aw, do you miss him that much? Am I not enough for you?” Johnny murmurs up at him, a dangerous glint in his eye. Even from the simple expression, Ten feels a throb of attraction deep inside him.

“No, y – you are,” he said, stumbling over his words as he tries to match Johnny’s tone, though it comes out sounded whiny. Johnny smirks up at him.

“He had to leave. Jaehyun’s a very busy man, Ten; you’d probably be surprised if you knew what he got up to.” Ten can’t tell if Johnny is joking or not, but he decides not to push the matter further. “You look pretty today. New vest?” Johnny is definitely playing with him now. “When’s your next break?”

Ten meets Johnny’s eyes again, confused. “My next break?”

“Sure,” Johnny says, a suggestive lilt to his words. “I have something for you.” Ten’s cheeks burn and his heart starts racing at the implication.

He checks his watch. “Um … about five minutes, or so.”

“Great.” Johnny leans back in his seat and takes a deep swig of his drink. When Ten doesn’t respond, Johnny just raises his eyebrows at him. “See you then.” Ten nods, slightly dazed, then backs away and starts bussing the neighboring table. He can feel Johnny’s gaze burning into his back.

* * *

Around five minutes later, Ten stands against the back wall of the room, his heart thudding as he picks distractedly at the skin on his finger. Beside him, a dark hallway leads to the staff room, with a doorway leading to the kitchen and a stairwell at the far end. He stands half-obscured in the shadow of large potted plant, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. It seems to be working; no one spares him a second glance, as the room is dark, busy and loud, and there are much more interesting things to look at in the club.

Ten is so distracted by his own thoughts that he nearly jumps out of his skin when Johnny appears in front of him. He is still not used to how _small_ Johnny makes him feel. Now, standing with his back against the wall and Johnny towering over him, their size difference makes his heart race. Idly, he wonders if Johnny would be able to carry him. _He probably would_ , Ten thinks, eyeing the bulge of Johnny’s muscular biceps through the fabric of his suit jacket. The thought makes Ten pulse with arousal.

Johnny reaches up his hand and brushes a stray lock of hair from Ten’s forehead, pushing it behind his ear. Even from the delicate touch, Ten can feel the power in Johnny’s hands.

He swallows and meets Johnny’s gaze, then slips out from Johnny’s shadow to slink into the hallway. Johnny follows close behind, and his strong presence alone makes Ten weak in the knees. Ten leads Johnny down the dark hall, past the door of the staffroom where he can hear the muffled sounds of laughter from within. They walk all the way to the end and up the stairwell, then out onto another dark landing. There are only a few rooms on this level, and Ten has only been up here once or twice before. He does, however, remember the room at the very end of the hallway, which is almost always unlocked. He rests his ear against the door, listening for any noise, but there is nothing but silence from the other side. He eases the door open slowly, revealing a dark room inside, lit weakly by the light of the fluorescent bulbs from the streetlamps outside. Stacks of tables, chairs, music stands and a large cabinet are pushed up against one side of the room, though it is empty of furniture otherwise.

Johnny follows him and shuts the door carefully behind them. The door clicks quietly. Ten swallows, his mouth suddenly dry.

Johnny approaches him slowly. He reaches tenderly out to catch Ten’s cheek in his hand, then presses a surprisingly delicate kiss to his lips. Ten feels his heart beat in his eardrums as he savors the feeling of Johnny’s soft lips against his own. Johnny breathes against his mouth, and Ten sighs shakily in response.

Suddenly, Johnny grips Ten by the waist and turns him around fully, running his hands up and down Ten’s sides, his fingers slipping under the fabric of his waiter’s vest for better access. He captures Ten in a sort of back-hug, pressing hot kisses into the sensitive skin on his neck.

Ten shivers as Johnny holds him from behind and walks him towards the far wall, caging him against the cold surface. He feels the strong muscles of Johnny’s chest on his back even through the few layers of fabric that separate them, and it makes desire pool deep in his gut, makes him breathe out hot and heavy and arch his back into Johnny’s firm hold. Johnny sighs shakily into his ear and winds his arms around Ten’s waist, holding their bodies more firmly together so Ten’s cheek presses up against the cold wall. Johnny’s large hands trace insistent circles into the flesh of Ten’s stomach and chest.

Ten can feel Johnny’s heartbeat up against his back, pounding in time to his rapid breathing. Ten keeps his ass pressed up into Johnny’s crotch, though he doesn’t move; just presses, waiting for Jonny to guide him.

Johnny lets his lips fall again to the back of Ten’s neck and drags them lightly, delicately, along the sensitive skin behind his ear. When Johnny flicks out his tongue, Ten can’t help the desperate whine that slips like honey from his lips as he grows impossibly aroused from the sensation. The firmness of Johnny’s grip, alongside the tender trace of his lips and tongue, drives him crazy.

Suddenly, the maddening heat of Johnny’s body and mouth is gone. Ten turns around in confusion only to find Johnny kneeling behind him, his gaze heavy and hungry with desire. Johnny licks his lips. Ten almost loses his mind.

“You’ll stand still for me, right, baby?” Johnny murmurs, even as he grips the backs of Ten’s thighs and presses his thumbs into the muscle, holding him in place.

“God, yes,” Ten moans, letting his eyes flutter closed and turning back to face the wall. He braces his forearms against the cold tile as Johnny begins to unzip his pants from behind, deftly maneuvering the button and zipper despite not being able to see what he’s doing. Johnny grabs his waistband and tugs his pants and briefs down to his knees, leaving Ten’s bare ass and thighs exposed in the chilly room.

Before Ten can react, Johnny is running a large hand up and down the back of Ten’s legs, brushing gently over his ass, before one hand rests firmly on his lower back. Ten arches reflexively into the touch, giving Johnny a better angle. Johnny grips his ass with his free hand, pulling at the soft flesh.

When he breathes hot over Ten’s entrance, Ten bites his bottom lip in an attempt to stifle the loud moan that threatens to slip out. The moan slips out anyway, the shaky, needy sound echoing in the empty room.

It takes all of Ten’s willpower (and Johnny’s strong hold on his shaking thighs) to keep himself from slipping to the floor when Johnny noses into him and licks him, deep and wet. His moans now fall out of his mouth unbidden, hardly muffled by the now-wet sleeve of his shirt, when Johnny starts really going for it, running his tongue over his rim, dipping in then sliding out. Ten can feel Johnny humming, can feel him flatten and flex the muscles of his tongue. His nerve endings are on fire, every sensation magnified. He can’t help but reach his hand down to grab at his own erection, which now sits heavy between his legs and twitches every time Johnny makes a pass with his tongue.

“Oh - shit, Johnny-“ Ten chokes out when he feels Johnny slip a finger in alongside his tongue, pressing pleasure even deeper inside him. The sensation is completely immoral, overwhelming, yet in his lust-addled brain, he aches for more, thinks in the neediest corner of his mind that his mouth feels empty, wishes desperately for it to be filled by Jaehyun again. Well. There’s always next time.

Ten arches his back further, now grinding his hips back to meet Johnny's mouth, craving something deeper. Johnny catches on quickly because he grips Ten’s hips with a large hand, pulling him back onto his tongue and finger, then pushes in another. Ten all but sobs, making noises he has sure he has never made before, crying out on every exhale with desperate little mewls.

Johnny pulls his mouth away and grits out, “knees – on your knees.” Ten needs no further instruction; he falls to his knees and bends over, his forehead nearly pressed against the linoleum floor.

Johnny lets out a noise deep in his throat as he surveys Ten bent over in front of him, exposed and shaking from the promise of pleasure. Johnny rests both hands firmly on either side of Ten’s ass then presses his tongue back into him, spreading him just enough to get deeper access. Ten is almost crying from how good it feels. Almost without thinking, he grabs himself again, pulling with irregular strokes as the bone-deep, velvety pleasure of Johnny’s tongue wipes all rationale thoughts from his brain. All he can think is _more, more, deeper, more_ , and Johnny seems to read his mind, knows exactly what Ten wants, pressing a hand between Ten’s shoulder blades to angle his hips up even more.

All it takes is three deep thrusts of a tongue and thumb at that angle for Ten to come hot and shaking, pulsing out onto his hand and onto the floor. Johnny licks him through it, has Ten shaking and moaning from the overstimulation.

He’s not sure he’ll be able to stand. He could die like this, face on the floor and ass in the air, Johnny’s red-hot tongue now tracing sinful kisses over the dimples in his lower back.

Ten realizes he’s still quietly moaning, still trembling as waves of pleasure continue to wash over him. A full minute passes like this, or maybe longer; his brain is still fuzzy from the recent release, and time seems to have lost all meaning.

Johnny kisses the nape of Ten’s neck reassuringly, then his hands are pulling Ten out of his prone position and upright, onto Johnny’s lap. Ten lets himself collapse against Johnny’s strong chest and muscular thighs as Johnny traces the sensitive skin on his hips and waist.

Still somewhat dazed, Ten reaches a hand below him to feel for Johnny’s arousal, and is surprised when Johnny bats his hand away with a laugh.

“Too late, baby,” Johnny chuckles into his neck. Curious, Ten reaches his hand back down and finds Johnny half-hard in his pants, a familiar wet spot spread out across it. _How … when did he even_ … _?_ Ten’s brain short circuits from the implication. Johnny’s... preferences are now more familiar to him, and they are unbearably hot, but Ten can’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment at never having even _seen_ it, much less touched it directly.

“Has Jaehyun seen it?” Ten mumbles out, his brain still buzzing and running at half capacity.

Johnny laughs. The sound is beautiful, deep and throaty. “Has he seen what?”

“Your dick,” Ten says, sounding a bit whinier than he would have liked.

Johnny laughs again. “Yes, he has.”

“No fair,” Ten mumbles. For some reason, Johnny always seems to bring out his needy side. Johnny squeezes his hips.

“Don’t worry, baby, you’ll have your turn. I’ll make sure you see it next time, so you know what you’re getting into before I fuck you for real.”

Now _this_ makes Ten whimper aloud. Johnny chuckles again - the bastard - then pulls Ten up onto his feet after him. Ten find a roll of paper towels in a cabinet and Johnny helps him clean up. Johnny wipes at the front of his own pants; the stain is still just visible, but the club is dark enough that no one should notice it (unless they are really staring at Johnny’s crotch, which is a possibility, given how nicely he fills out his pants). Ten finishes dressing, then reaches up to straighten out Johnny’s tie. His fifteen-minute break is almost certainly up, but he doesn’t really care. Not when Johnny smiles lazily at him, brushes a thumb over his lower lip and mutters into his ear, “you taste amazing, by the way. What’s your secret?”

Ten has no response to this other than to blush furiously. Johnny smirks at him, then leads him, with a hand on his lower back, toward the door.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unrelated, but Tenalice now lives in my head rent-free


	3. Play Nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, it's back ... with an inexplicably long and filthy chapter (& with some plot?? kind of??). This may be the end, but who really knows at this point ... I just wanted to write something noir-inspired and also challenge myself to write some actual ~smut~ instead of being all coy about it like I normally am. And I can't get enough of Johnjaeten, so I must share my demonic thoughts with the world. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> \- OG
> 
> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)

The room is cold, but Ten is sweating.

He sits in a wooden chair in the empty office, watching as droplets of rain pool and slide down the dark windows on the opposite wall. The raindrops cast shifting shadows on the desk and file cabinets that surround it, casting the entire room in a hazy, silver-grey darkness. Other than the neon signs flickering from across the street, the only light comes from the brushed glass window of the door to the office, through which the silhouettes of two figures can be seen.

Ten strains his ears to hear the muffled conversation from just outside the door, but the sound of the rain and the low rumble of traffic from outside obscure the voices. 

He pulls his sweater away from his neck, trying to let the chilly air relieve the flush that had started spreading across his chest. He crosses and uncrosses his legs.

The voices from outside get louder, and Ten can suddenly pick up the smooth timbre of Jaehyun’s voice rising above its normal tone. The other person stops talking, and for a minute, there is silence. Ten sneaks a glance at the door. The shadows of both figures are still visible, though neither seems to be moving. Jaehyun’s voice comes through again, this time barely audible, then one of the shadowed figures disappears. The sound of heels rings sharp on the tiled floor outside until they, too, fade into silence.

The door handle rattles and Ten jumps in his seat, his heart pounding. He spins around in his chair and tries to look nonchalant as he gazes thoughtfully out the window.

“Sorry about that. Some people don’t know how to respect business hours,” Jaehyun says as he crosses the room and sinks into his chair behind the desk, kicking his feet up and beginning to loosen his tie. “But I guess that’s the nature of this business.”

Ten nods, swallowing down the lump in his throat that forms upon seeing Jaehyun’s strong fingers playing with the knot of his tie. “I can help you with that,” Ten says quietly.

In the faint grey light of the window, Jaehyun’s handsome features look unreal, like he has just stepped out of a black-and-white movie. Even his surroundings seem from another time: from the wooden file cabinets stuffed to the brim, the transistor radio on the desk, the cracked leather couch squeezed into the corner, to the dull metal of the antique revolver that sits on the shelf behind his head.

Jaehyun looks down at his tie, then drops his hand. “Be my guest,” he says, with a sly grin growing across his face. He settles back into his chair, swings his legs onto the floor, and crosses his arms behind his head. Ten rises from his chair, feeling the flush beginning to set in again, and walks around the desk.

He stands in front of Jaehyun for a moment, letting his gaze wander indulgently from the wide expanse of his shoulders to the dark sweep of his hair, which is a bit tousled in the back. Jaehyun watches him back with a cool expression, shifting his thighs apart ever so slightly. Ten runs a hand lightly over Jaehyun’s collar, letting one finger trail across the skin on his neck.

He lets his hand settle on the knot of Jaehyun’s silk tie, then places his other hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder and sinks down to straddle his lap.

If Jaehyun is surprised, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he watches silently as Ten shifts higher up on his lap and begins tugging at his tie, carefully loosening the fabric with his slender fingers. Ten hates ties; at work, he normally has Shuhua tie his for him. But he also knows how to put on a show, so he makes eye contact with Jaehyun as he pries apart the knot and slips the tie from around his neck, letting it fall unceremoniously to the floor. He holds eye contact as he unbuttons the top three buttons of Jaehyun’s shirt, then leans down to breathe over the exposed skin on his chest.

Ten is pleased to find that Jaehyun’s chest is heaving rapidly, almost unsteadily. Ten brushes his lips delicately over the skin, feeling the heat and the pounding of his heart beneath his lips. He shifts again on Jaehyun’s lap and Jaehyun groans quietly.

“Where was I?” Jaehyun mutters into the top of Ten’s head.

“Hm?” Ten responds, his face still buried in the smooth skin of Jaehyun’s chest.

“Before we got interrupted, where was I?” Jaehyun says again. Ten lifts his head and brings his face to Jaehyun’s until their mouths are barely a breath apart.

“Here, I think,” Ten breathes. Jaehyun licks his lips, then closes the gap between their mouths, pulling Ten into a heady kiss. He finally drops his arms from behind his head to haul Ten even closer to him, until Ten has his legs wrapped tightly around Jaehyun’s strong thighs and his arms circled around his neck. Ten tangles his fingers through Jaehyun’s hair and whimpers into his mouth when Jaehyun pulls at Ten’s hips to grind him against his lap. Ten feels a sharp tug of arousal at the feeling of the hard outline of Jaehyun’s dick against his thigh, trapped in the now-tight fabric of his pants. He rolls his hips and they both groan again at the friction.

Ten breaks away to catch his breath, nosing along Jaehyun’s sharp jawline and biting at his earlobe. He rolls the diamond stud of Jaehyun’s earring between his teeth and licks, shivering at the feeling of cold metal against his tongue.

“Careful with that,” Jaehyun grunts out between short breaths. “Birthday present. From Johnny.” He gasps as Ten grinds down again, rubbing his own arousal against Jaehyun’s stomach.

“Oh, really?” Ten says, giving Jaehyun’s earlobe one last tug between his teeth, feeling particularly bold. “Maybe I should ask him for a matching one.”

Jaehyun makes a noise in the back of his throat that is somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “I think you have enough earrings, don’t you?” he says, lifting his hand to run a finger through the bar in Ten’s cartilage. Jaehyun’s not wrong; Ten has lost count of the number of studs and piercings he has in his ears. He certainly doesn’t _need_ any more metal, but he wouldn’t mind another one, especially if it were from Johnny.

“You wouldn’t like that?” Ten asks, whispering into Jaehyun’s ear. “If Johnny got me something nice like this?” Jaehyun shivers at the feeling of Ten’s breath on the sensitive skin of his ear, then pulls back to level Ten with his strong, dark-eyed gaze.

“Don’t toy with me, darling. I don’t play as nicely as Johnny does.”

Ten smirks back, though he suddenly doesn’t feel as bold as he looks. “I guess I’ll have to see for myself, won’t I?”

Jaehyun blinks back at him and hums. He thinks for a moment then smiles, flashing his bright white teeth in the dark room. “It’s late. We should leave before the custodian locks me in the building again.”

Ten whines, his neglected erection throbbing painfully at the thought of leaving now, with the implications of something _more_ hanging in the air between them. “We can be quick,” he says, reaching a hand between them to run his fingers over Jaehyun’s arousal. He bites back a moan at how warm and solid it feels, even through the fabric of his pants.

Jaehyun, though his cheeks and the tips of his ears are flushed a deep red, just shakes his head. “Like I said, I don’t always play nice. And we really should go, Johnny’s expecting us before one a.m.”

Ten pouts, but he looks up at the clock and knows Jaehyun is right. They don’t have time to be messing around, and besides, this wasn’t what they had come to the office for. Jaehyun gives his thighs a squeeze for good measure, then pushes Ten off. Ten climbs off Jaehyun’s lap and smooths down the wrinkles in his sweater. Jaehyun stands after him, though he looks a mess – his mouth is flushed and red, his hair is mussed up, and his erection still strains against the front of his pants. Ten is sure he must look about the same, if the look Jaehyun gives him is any indication.

“God, you look like fucking _sin_ , don’t you,” Jaehyun murmurs, and Ten’s heart stutters when Jaehyun steps towards him, dwarfing Ten with his broad frame. The heat between them is unbearable, and Ten’s hands move of their own accord to toy with Jaehyun’s belt buckle. Jaehyun gives a deep sigh in response, letting his head fall back and his eyes fall closed. Ten runs his fingers along his waistband, dipping one finger into the gap between two buttons of his shirt. Jaehyun pushes his hips into the touch, barely biting back another moan.

“Quickly?” Ten asks breathily, putting as much honey into his voice as he can. He knows that if this were Johnny standing in front of him, he’d fall prey in an instant to Ten’s implorations. Instead, Jaehyun – like the devil he is – opens his eyes and whispers back, “nice try. And next time, I’ll make sure you have something in your mouth so you can’t get smart with me.” Ten whimpers at the implication, a jolt of arousal pulsing through him. 

“Needy,” Jaehyun teases, and Ten doesn’t even have the heart to argue with him: he is needy. 

Jaehyun finally pulls away entirely. He bends down to retrieve his fallen tie, which he rolls up and stuffs into an open drawer. As Ten tries to make himself presentable, Jaehyun flicks on his desk lamp to rifle through one of the file cabinets, tossing papers into seemingly random piles on the floor. He finally pulls out a thick manila envelope, which he sets carefully on the desk.

“Coat.”

“What?” Ten says, distracted as he combs through his messy hair with his fingers.

“My coat, can you get it? It’s hanging up on the rack by the door.”

“You could have just asked nicely the first time,” Ten grumbles to himself, even as he walks dutifully to the coatrack by the door and retrieves his and Jaehyun’s coats, which are still damp from the rain. “Isn’t this a bit cliché?” Ten says as he hands the long, black trench to Jaehyun.

“How so?” Jaehyun asks, shrugging the coat over his broad shoulders. He slides the manila folder into a hidden pocket in the lining of the jacket, flicks off the desk lamp, then follows Ten out the door of the office.

“You know,” Ten says as he zips up his own rain jacket. “A private investigator, wearing a trench coat? Isn’t it too obvious?”

Jaehyun frowns at him. “It’s practical.” He pulls the door shut behind them, which takes a few tries as the lock appears to be on its last leg. He pulls it with one strong tug, then the lock finally clicks shut. The brushed glass window, which reads _Jaehyun Jung, P.I._ in peeling gold letters, rattles in its frame. They walk side-by-side down the vacant hallway past dark offices and empty vending machines until they reach the elevators.

The building can’t be newer than a hundred years old, as evidenced by the narrow, box-like elevator that seems to be one jolt away from dislocating itself from its chains and falling straight to the bottom of the shaft. Even being squeezed in close against Jaehyun – close enough for Jaehyun to get a gratuitous handful of his ass – doesn’t distract Ten from the mortal dread he feels every time the elevator gives a stuttering lurch.

Finally, they make it out of the building unscathed and out onto the rainy street. Ten folds up the collar of his jacket and hurries along next to Jaehyun down the dark sidewalk, using Jaehyun’s large frame to protect him from the wind chill. When they make it to Jaehyun’s car, Ten climbs into the passenger seat, shivering as the rain seeps below his jacket and into his skin. Jaehyun turns on the heat and the radio, tuning into a channel playing jazz music. The music warbles feebly out of the old speakers, but the familiar tune warms Ten’s bones. 

* * *

The last person Ten had been expecting to see when he finished work that day was Jaehyun. It had been a particularly hectic night, with two separate parties of stockbrokers throwing two separate stag parties, each ordering enough champagne and Jägermeister to kill a small horse. He and Shuhua were on their way out of the staff exit, gossiping about the new hires, when a dark figure had stepped out of the shadows of the alleyway and stopped in front of them.

Shuhua had jumped in front of Ten and pulled a can of mace from her pocket, brandishing it in front of them like a knife. “Watch it!” she shouted, startling Ten even more than the appearance of the figure had startled him.

“Whoa there, little miss,” said the figure coolly, finally stepping all the way into the light of the streetlamp above. Jaehyun smiled at Ten, seemingly completely unbothered by the sudden confrontation. “It’s all good. I’m a friend of Ten’s.”

Ten had stared, mouth agape and heart pounding, at the sight of Jaehyun in front of them. Jaehyun cut an impressive figure in his long black coat, framed by the halo of rain that reflected the light from the streetlamp above his head.

He hadn’t seen Johnny or Jaehyun the past few weeks. Johnny had said the two of them would be particularly busy and probably wouldn’t have a chance to stop into the Ace. Ten had learned to stop himself from looking for them every night, though that didn’t stop him from feeling an uncontrollable pulse of excitement every time he walked past their regular booth, almost like he had a Pavlovian response to it. Whenever he thought about Johnny’s hands on Jaehyun’s thighs, or Jaehyun’s mouth on his neck, or Johnny’s tongue inside him, he had to slip away to paw desperately at his arousal, then would sneak back to his shift, pink in the face and feeling more than a little dirty. He sometimes wondered, in between gasps of pleasure with his hand around himself, how they would react if were to ever tell them how desperate they made him, how he couldn’t even control himself at work.

Standing in front of him in the alleyway, smirking at Ten with a knowing glint in his eye, Ten suddenly had the feeling that Jaehyun knew everything that went on in his head. Shuhua had looked back and forth between the two of them, recognition slowly dawning on her face. She stuffed the mace back into her pocket, looking uncharacteristically sheepish.

“That’s illegal, you know,” Jaehyun had said, pointing at the cylindrical bulge in Shuhua’s pocket.

“I got it legally,” she spat back, though there was no real venom in her voice. She readjusted the straps of her purse. “Ten, are you still walking to the bus? Or going somewhere with him?”

“Uh …” was all Ten could say, as Jaehyun just continued smiling serenely at him, giving no indication as to his purpose for being there in the dark, nasty-smelling alley next to the Ace of Hearts jazz club.

“He’s coming with me,” Jaehyun had finally answered for him. “You run along now. Don’t want you to miss the last bus.” Ten had flashed an apologetic smile to Shuhua, who just rolled her eyes and planted a protective kiss on his cheek before slipping past Jaehyun, out of the alleyway and turning down the street.

Ten, having finally regained his composure, crossed his arms across his chest as he tried to look annoyed. “You could have been nicer to her,” he said, then gulped as Jaehyun stepped closer to him. “You can come across a bit … no offense, but you sometimes come across a bit rude to strangers.”

Jaehyun hummed, stopping less than a foot from Ten. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time, since you asked. But if you haven’t already noticed, I don’t really do nice.”

Ten had tilted his head up, trying to get a read on Jaehyun’s expression. It was too dark, though, and Jaehyun was too stoic. “What are you doing here?” he murmured, feeling heat spread across his face when Jaehyun stepped even closer.

“Johnny wanted me to pick you up,” Jaehyun had said, his voice low. “And he wants me to pick something up from my office first, so you get to come along with me on an errand.”

“Your office?” Ten inquired, racking his brain to think of what types of offices could be open at 11:30 at night and realizing that he still didn’t know what it was Jaehyun (or Johnny, for that matter) did for a living.

“It’s close by. Well, it’s actually on the other side of town, but there’s hardly any traffic this late, so it shouldn’t be longer than a twenty-minute drive.” Ten nodded, though he still felt thoroughly confused, and followed Jaehyun to his car.

Jaehyun hardly spoke the whole ride over, as he seemed to be particularly invested in the radio station he was listening to. Ten didn’t mind, happy to sit quietly with his own thoughts. It wasn’t long before he became lulled by the constant thrum of rain on the roof of the car and the low rumble of the tires on the wet pavement. Lights flashed past the window, but the interior of the car was dark. He felt oddly peaceful, the chaos of the night draining away and leaving only a comfortable sleepiness. He let his eyes flutter shut, feeling so at peace that he could almost forget he was sitting in a car with a man who normally sent his body into sensory overdrive.

It was about five minutes into the drive when Ten realized that Jaehyun had the radio tuned into the police scanners. He opened his eyes and snuck a look at Jaehyun. Jaehyun somehow sensed this and glanced over at Ten.

“Problem?” He said, turning back to the road ahead. They were idling at a stoplight, and the red light reflected off the angles of Jaehyun’s face.

“No problem. I’ve just never met anyone who listens to police scanners for entertainment.” Ten watched Jaehyun’s face. The light changed to green and the car lurched ahead, a plane of water spattering across the side window as the car next to them sped through a puddle.

“Who said it was for entertainment?”

“It’s not?”

Jaehyun flicked his eyes over to Ten. The corner of his mouth twitched. “You could say it’s for entertainment. You could also say it’s for business. A little of column A, a little of column B.”

Ten had no idea how to respond to this. _Could Jaehyun be a …_

“I’m not a cop,” Jaehyun said, as though he was reading Ten’s mind. “Not anymore. But, if you must know, my business tends to … cross streams with the police, you might say. So, I try to keep abreast of their whereabouts, mostly so I can stay out of their way.”

“You used to be a cop?” Ten said, thoroughly bewildered. Although he never would have pegged Jaehyun as a police officer, it did kind of make sense: the jagged attitude, the intimidating presence, the trench coat.

“Police detective, actually. Not that that’s much better. I was there for five years, and it almost crushed me. Without Johnny, I probably would still be on the force, selling my soul to the devil for a nice salary and a shiny badge.”

Ten’s mind was reeling. When Johnny and Jaehyun had first come into the Ace, he had been so sure they were businessmen, a pair of corporate hotshots. Now, Jaehyun was turning all that on its head. Jaehyun, who was normally much more reserved than this, seemed content to keep talking, and Ten wasn’t about to stop him.

“Johnny was one of the higher-ups at the force. He transferred in from some other precinct with big plans to shake things up. I didn’t know that at the time, though; like most other detectives, I was always pretty wary of the administrative suits, so I kept my distance from him out of habit. When I first met him – I mean really met him – he was assigned to supervise my case. He was exactly like he is now - handsome, smart, charming. I think everyone he meets has a bit of a crush on him, and I was no exception, despite how cynical I tried to be. I couldn’t help but want to impress him, and lucky for me, he took notice of me right away. Said he saw something special in me, that I’d been making waves in the force. Well, by that point, I was already about one foot out the door. In fact, I had been thinking of quitting instead of taking that last case.

I stayed, because of Johnny. Not because he asked me to, but because I thought he wanted me to. So, we worked together on that maze of a case – mafia, a drug ring, money laundering, trafficking, the whole nine yards – and it led us to the truth that was in front of us the whole time: that the law is a farce, designed to protect the powerful and stomp on the weak. The only thing separating the mob boss from the police commissioner is that one of them gets paid by taxpayer money.”

When Jaehyun paused to clear his throat, Ten suddenly realized that the car was parked on a dark side-street in front of an old brick building. He had been so absorbed by what Jaehyun was telling him that he hadn’t even noticed that they had stopped. Jaehyun let the car idle with the engine on, his hands still resting on the steering wheel. His eyes were dark.

“So, we left. Like I said, I had wanted to leave for a while. But in all honesty, I probably would have stayed on, or transferred to another precinct, to another city. I was a coward. Johnny was the one who gave me the final push, said we’d figure things out together. So, we did. It took a while, but Johnny helped me get the office and find clients. Luckily, I still had my connections around the city, and I was finally able to help the people who really needed help. Johnny started consulting, and we moved in together a month later.”

Jaehyun let the pounding of the rain fill the silence in the car for a long moment, before finally shutting off the engine. “Here’s my office. You can stay out here, or you can come in. Your choice.”

Ten eyed the dark street, lit only by a couple neon signs and flickering street lamps. He saw almost no one, save for a dark cluster of figures huddled suspiciously in a doorway several car-lengths away.

“I’ll come in.”

He had followed Jaehyun into the old building and up the stairs to the fifth floor. Jaehyun had let them into his office, shaking out Ten’s damp coat and hanging it on the rack by the door. Ten had stood by the desk, watching Jaehyun move around the office and rifle through drawers, when his attraction got the best of him.

“Jaehyun,” he had said. Jaehyun hadn’t heard him the first time, so he said it again. Jaehyun had finally turned around and noticed the look Ten was giving him. He had walked lazily around the desk, dropping some papers onto the floor, then stood in front of Ten. Ten had let his hands rest on Jaehyun’s back, tracking the divots of muscle with his fingertips while he leaned up to kiss Jaehyun’s long neck. Jaehyun had kissed him back, then, tracing the inside of Ten’s mouth with his tongue with enough intensity to set Ten’s insides on fire, until they had been rudely interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Ten had startled at the sound, jumping away from Jaehyun in alarm, but Jaehyun had reassured him that his clients tended to show up at odd hours of the day and night, often without notice. He had directed Ten to settle into a chair while he went outside to deal with his unexpected visitor.

So, Ten had sat alone in that dark office, trying to control the flush that had spread across his body like wildfire.

* * *

Jaehyun turns down the radio and pulls into a parking garage. Ten cranes his neck to look at the street signs, attempting to orient himself in the dark city. He recognizes the avenue, but not the cross street.

“We’re not going to the Plaza?” he asks, noting how far they are from the hotel.

“Did you think we lived there?” Jaehyun scoffs, twisting around to retrieve his briefcase from the backseat. “I was on a job, that night. Well, I was supposed to be. My client flaked on me, but we still got the room for free. Pretty nice perk, right?”

“I guess,” Ten says, trying to bite back his attitude. He climbs out of the car after Jaehyun and they make their way to the elevator at the back of the lot. It’s not the Plaza, by any means, but it at least appears to be newer than the elevator back at Jaehyun’s office.

The elevator takes them nearly to the top of the nondescript apartment building. Ten is still shivering from the damp cold that had settled into his jacket, but he warms up when he notices Jaehyun watching him. They walk side-by-side to a plain grey door at the end of the hallway, where Jaehyun begins to fish around in his pocket for his keys. He unlocks the door and pushes it open with his shoulder, letting Ten enter the apartment first. The hallway is dark, but Ten sees a flickering blue light around the corner and hears the muffled sound of the television. He kicks off his shoes and sets them carefully by the door, then follows Jaehyun towards the source of the noise.

When he enters the living room, Ten finds Johnny sprawled out of the couch, snoring quietly as the local news plays on low volume on the TV. Johnny is so tall that his feet dangle off the edge of the long couch. He is still fully dressed, with a rolled-up blanket supporting his head.

Jaehyun sets the manila folder down on the table. He crosses the room to kneel in front of Johnny. Ten watches from the doorway, feeling oddly like he is witnessing something intimate, something he shouldn’t be seeing. Jaehyun whispers something in Johnny’s ear and lightly squeezes his shoulder, then Johnny’s eyes slowly blink open. He smiles when he sees Jaehyun, then asks, his voice scratchy from sleep, “Ten?” Jaehyun nods to the doorway, where Ten still stands half-cloaked in shadow. Johnny cranes his neck towards the doorway and his smile grows even wider when they make eye contact.

“Ten,” Johnny says again, beaming as he sits up and stifles a yawn with the back of his hand. “Lovely to see you. My apologies, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but the two of you took longer than I was expecting.” He glances over at Jaehyun. “Did something happen at the office?”

Jaehyun barely conceals a smirk. “Nope.”

“Hm,” Johnny says with a half-smile. “Well, alright then.”

A low rumble of thunder makes Ten jump. The room, lit only by the TV and a lamp in the corner, crackles with a static electricity that makes the space around him feel suspended in time. The gentle patter of rain against the window soothes him; it is almost the feeling of being submerged in a warm bath, weightless and breathless.

Jaehyun walks down the dark hallway on the other end of the room. Johnny stands and beings to follow him. He stops and holds a hand out to Ten, whose hand seems to lift of its own accord to meet Johnny’s. Johnny’s hand is large and strong, a bit rough around the edges, and he guides Ten behind him down the hall towards the bedroom. Ten feels Johnny’s heartbeat through his palm, steady and soothing.

Ten feels none of the desperate urgency he had felt their first night together. Instead, he lets himself move slowly, nurturing that small bud of warmth that had begun building in his chest. He sinks onto the bed and lets his legs fall open.

His heart pounds when Jaehyun crawls on top of him until his knees are straddling Ten’s shoulders, his legs thick and muscular. Ten runs his hands up and down Jaehyun’s thighs, kneading at the muscle and letting the pads of his fingers trace over the warm skin, caressing the soft blond hairs. Jaehyun lets out a sharp breath when Ten’s hand travels to the front of his briefs and his fingers ghost over the heavy length trapped in the thin fabric. Jaehyun steadies himself with a hand on the headboard as he shifts forward, pushing his straining erection towards Ten’s mouth.

“Look at you both,” comes Johnny’s voice, a deep, bass-heavy purr that cuts through the pattering sound of rain against the window. Ten turns his head to see Johnny still standing in the doorway, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Ten’s heart pounds and he flushes at the sight. Johnny lets his shirt fall to the floor as he walks over to the bed and folds his large body to perch on the edge. The mattress shifts under his weight. He smiles gently at Ten, a glint of something more dangerous in his eyes. “Carry on.”

So, Ten does as he’s told. He gazes up at Jaehyun over him, who is staring down at him with a heaving chest, his crotch inches from Ten’s mouth. Ten breathes hot over the fabric, then grabs the base and licks the head, where a dark spot had already started forming. Jaehyun reacts immediately to this, groaning and pushing his hips forward. His own erection starting to throb between his legs, Ten hooks his fingers in the waistband of Jaehyun’s briefs and pulls them down to mid-thigh. He opens his mouth and lets the heavy weight of Jaehyun’s cock fall onto his tongue, savoring the warm, salty taste. This elicits another load groan from Jaehyun and a soft moan from himself, and Jaehyun pushes himself deeper into Ten’s mouth, sliding over his tongue and past his lips. Ten relaxes his neck and jaw and lets his head sink back into the pillow. He grips Jaehyun’s thighs with both hands to feel the flexing of his muscles every time Jaehyun thrusts in, out, in, with movements slow yet firm. 

Ten is dizzy with how turned on he is. He can’t get enough of the feeling of Jaehyun filling up his mouth, hot between his lips. His mouth waters, saliva pooling around his tongue, and he swallows reflexively just as Jaehyun pushes in nearly to the base. “Fuck,” Jaehyun hisses and pushes in again, deeper, his dick throbbing. Ten squirms and squeezes his legs together, trying desperately to relieve some of the pressure that had been building since the moment he entered the apartment.

“Poor baby,” Johnny murmurs from somewhere below him. Ten’s eyes are shut; his eyelashes wet and his vision streaked with stars from behind his eyelids. A warm hand suddenly rests on his upper thigh, causing him to buck up his hips in surprise. “Let me take care of you, baby,” Johnny says, desire practically dripping from his voice. Ten whimpers, lifting his hips again, and tries to call out Johnny’s name, but the words are wet and muffled around Jaehyun’s dick, and come out as just a desperate, needy cry from deep in his throat. Ten feels Johnny’s hand grip his upper thigh then slowly travel to the soft skin on his lower stomach, lightly scraping his knuckles over the sensitive flesh. Ten moans out again, throbbing and needy but unable to tell Johnny to touch him, _just touch me, just touch me, please_ , _I need you so bad_ , he thinks desperately.

Finally, finally, Johnny unzips Ten’s pants and pulls them off his legs. There is a moment’s pause, during which Ten hears the soft click of a bottle cap, then, finally, he feels a large hand grip his aching dick. Johnny’s grasp on him is tight and slick, dripping with what is presumably lube, and the sensation sends a shockwave of pleasure from his gut all the way down to his toes.

Johnny pumps his hand with the same rhythm of Jaehyun’s thrusts into his mouth. Ten digs his fingernails into Jaehyun’s thighs and moans around his cock, completely overwhelmed with pleasure and lightheaded from arousal. He doesn’t want the feeling to stop, but he doesn’t know how much more he can take, how much longer he can last, especially not when Johnny slides a lube-slicked finger between his legs and slips it inside him, flexing and stretching him out. Ten reflexively moves to clamp his legs shut, but Johnny uses his knees to keep him open. Above him, Jaehyun is moaning, his flushed chest dripping with beads of sweat that run down his toned abdomen. Jaehyun’s erection is swollen and feverishly hot, and with the way he is twitching and pulsing on his tongue, Ten knows Jaehyun won’t last much longer.

Ten gasps when Johnny slides in not just one, but two more massive fingers in with the first. It burns at first, but he is too far gone to care, and soon the burn gives way to a steady pulse of pleasure that starts to swell deep inside him. Johnny releases the hand around his erection to keep Ten’s ass open as he works his fingers in deeper, all the way to the knuckle, and uses his thumb to trace over his stretched-out entrance. Ten can’t believe how good it feels, and he is so focused on the intense pleasure between his legs that he almost doesn’t hear Jaehyun calling his name.

“Ten, shit – ” Jaehyun curses above him. Ten wrenches open his eyes, and through the blurriness of his vision he sees Jaehyun’s face furrowed in concentration, bright pink and beaded with sweat. Jaehyun throws his head back and moans loudly. His hips stutter and he cries out Ten’s name again, his voice strained and raspy. Ten opens his mouth as Jaehyun slides most of the way out, letting the head of his cock rest on Ten’s lower lip just in time to come, spilling hot and wet onto Ten’s tongue. He pulses a few more times, then sighs deeply. Ten swallows, licking at Jaehyun’s cock to catch the last drops, then lets his head fall back onto the pillow. Jaehyun catches his breath, still straddling Ten’s chest, then clambers off and flops down onto the bed next to Ten.

With Jaehyun no longer blocking his vision, Ten now has full view of Johnny between his legs. Johnny meets his gaze and smirks as he curls his fingers, savoring the way Ten’s face scrunches up and a needy whimper slips from his mouth. Johnny’s gaze wanders to Jaehyun. “How was that, princess?” he asks, voice deep. Jaehyun takes more than minute to answer, as he seems completely wiped out. Without opening his eyes, Jaehyun mutters, “fucking amazing.”

“That’s what I thought,” Johnny says, now looking back to Ten. “Our Tennie did so well, don’t you think?” Ten’s heart jumps at the endearment. _Our Tennie_. It sounds … it sounds just right, coming from Johnny’s mouth. “Now …” Johnny continues, his gaze as hot as a branding iron, “open your legs more for me, would you? I want to see how flexible you really are.”

Ten easily complies, spreading his thighs as wide as they can go, nearly perpendicular to his body. He whimpers when the new angle causes Johnny’s fingers to sink even deeper inside him. “Good,” Johnny murmurs, almost to himself. “Now, stay right there.” Ten whines when Johnny pulls his fingers out and climbs off the bed, feeling suddenly empty and exposed. Beside him, Jaehyun yawns, then slides a pillow between his thighs and rests his head on his arm. He watches Ten through sleepy eyes.

Johnny returns to the foot of the bed and tosses a bottle of lube towards Jaehyun. “Get him nice and wet for me, princess,” he says, nodding towards the bottle. Jaehyun mutters something about sleep, then sits up to grab the bottle and squeeze a liberal amount onto his fingers. Ten moves to sit up with him, but Johnny tuts. “Uh-uh, I said to stay there.” Ten blushes and lays back down, though he continues to stare up at Johnny, his heart pounding in anticipation. Jaehyun nestles in close to him and reaches between his legs to spread the lube over his entrance, dipping in slightly but staying shallow. Ten wants to push his hips down onto Jaehyun’s fingers but he resists the temptation, resigning himself instead to biting his lower lip and watching Johnny begin to undress at the foot of the bed.

Johnny unbuttons his pants and tugs them off, pulling a bit harder to get them over the thick muscle of his thighs. Ten knows Johnny is tall, of course, but he has never fully appreciated just how goddamn long his legs are. His eyes stop at Johnny’s crotch, where a pair of dark grey briefs barely covers the massive bulge straining underneath. Ten’s mouth waters at the sight, and he instinctively spreads his hips even wider. When Johnny hooks his fingers in the fabric and slips out of his underwear, it is all Ten can do to stop himself from reaching a hand between his legs, push Jaehyun’s fingers away, and start fingering himself.

It had certainly been worth the wait; Johnny is _big_ , of course, though not obscenely so. His dick is solid and flushed pink, beautiful even, where it sits heavy and leaking between his tree-trunk legs. Johnny stands at the foot of the bed and strokes himself, sighing deeply as his head falls slightly back. Ten is mesmerized by the sight of Johnny’s long fingers gripping and rubbing himself to full hardness.

Johnny gives himself one final tug, then unwraps and rolls on a condom that had been sitting on the dresser. He runs a lube-covered hand over himself one more time before climbing onto the bed and positioning himself between Ten’s legs, chest heaving as he stares down at him. Ten yelps in surprise when Jaehyun pushes a finger deep in him then abruptly pulls it out, rolling back onto his side of the bed. “All yours,” Jaehyun says through another yawn, and continues to watch Ten and Johnny with sleepy interest.

Johnny smiles down at Ten, his face soft despite the obvious arousal. “You’re good?” he asks, and Ten is caught off guard by the sudden question.

“Good?” Ten manages to squeak out, his voice smaller and hoarser than he was expecting.

“Yes,” Johnny says. “You’re doing alright? Like I said last time, it can be a lot, the two of us together.”

Ten finds his voice faster this time. “Yes, I’m good. Beyond good.”

Johnny smiles wider. “Good. Now open up for me, baby.” Ten barely has time to blush before Johnny positions himself at his entrance and pushes in. He gasps at the sudden feeling, even though Johnny slides in easily from how loose he had already stretched him. Even the feeling of Johnny’s huge fingers couldn’t have prepared him for the feeling of Johnny’s cock in him, heavy and deep, that sends throbs of pleasure coursing through his body. He moans and whimpers, squirming and twisting his hips to try to pull Johnny in deeper with his legs. Johnny groans as he pushes in all the way, resting on his elbows to keep his weight from crushing Ten under him. Ten grabs at all the flesh he can reach, first on Johnny’s ass, then the rippling muscles of his back, then his massive biceps. He digs in his nails when Johnny rolls his hips, deeper and faster and at an angle that makes Ten gasp and his eyes water from pleasure.

Johnny breathes hot into his ear, and Ten licks at his neck in response, lapping up the salty sweaty that clings to the skin. “Tennie, baby – ” Johnny grunts out, getting cut off by his own loud moan as Ten squeezes around him. Ten is already so far gone that when Johnny reaches between them to grasp his erection, the need to come becomes so overwhelming that he pants out, “Jo-Johnny, Johnny,” unable to form words other than the name of the man currently inside him. Johnny understands immediately and grips Ten tighter in his hand, snapping his hips even faster. Waves of pleasure course through Ten’s body, heat rippling through his chest to the bottom of his feet, his toes curling and his legs shaking. He rolls his own hips down to meet Johnny’s, willing him even deeper, biting and sucking at the skin of Johnny’s neck between desperate pants.

Finally, one last thrust sends Ten over the edge as the tension in his body is released all at once. He cries out Johnny’s name, spilling over his hand and onto his own stomach and chest, his inner walls throbbing reflexively around Johnny inside of him. His head buzzes as Johnny works him through it, and the sensation fades slowly, tingles still pulsing gently in his groin and in his gut. Johnny hadn’t let up his thrusting, though he continues more slowly, careful of Ten’s oversensitivity. It is overwhelming, but Ten wants – no, needs – Johnny in him still, so he crosses his ankles around Johnny’s lower back and keeps him in place. Johnny slows until he is just grinding inside him, pulling pleasure from the tight heat around him. “Ten,” Johnny says, voice low and intense. Just from Johnny’s expression, Ten senses what Johnny wants, and he lets his ankles release Johnny’s body as Johnny pulls out slowly. Ten whimpers at the sudden empty feeling.

Johnny moves back and rips off the condom, tugs himself off a few times, then leans back down and begins grinding his erection against the taught surface of Ten’s stomach. He pulls Ten into a kiss, licking at his mouth between heavy breaths. Ten’s lips tingle where Johnny kisses him. Then, Johnny lets out what sounds like a growl, coming from somewhere deep in his chest, and Ten feels something wet and hot spill onto his stomach. Johnny continues thrusting, spreading the slick around Ten’s stomach with his cock as he works himself through it.

Johnny finally pulls away with a satisfied sigh, sitting back on his heels to stare down at Ten beneath him. Ten can only imagine what he looks like – hair mussed, lips pink and swollen, stomach covered in Johnny’s mess – but he loves it.

Like the last time, Johnny takes care of most of the clean-up, coming back from the bathroom with a small pile of damp washcloths and a glass of water for Ten. After Johnny spreads out a fresh sheet, he lays onto the bed and pulls Ten and Jaehyun close to him. They nestle in on either side of him, Ten resting his head on Johnny’s chest while Jaehyun takes his shoulder, and Ten wraps his knees around Johnny’s long legs. Jaehyun falls asleep almost immediately. Ten stays awake awhile longer, gently lulled by the feeling of Johnny running his hands through his hair and rubbing circles into his back.

He nuzzles into Johnny’s chest, smiling to himself as the sound of Johnny’s breathing calms his racing heart. The room is dark and cold, but Johnny and Jaehyun keep him warm.


	4. Dream in a Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for "this may be the end" from the last chapter, I just have way too much fun with this fic 
> 
> CW: allusions to violence, blood (not in a sexual context), choking (in a sexual context, with consent)
> 
> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)

Ten wakes to the feeling of an empty bed. He sits up and rubs his eyes, squinting into the still-dark room. The heavy thunder from earlier seems to have died down, leaving just a whispering patter of rain against the window. The space beside him is empty, with the blanket neatly tucked up under the two pillows beside his. He feels around for his glasses on the nightstand, fumbles them on, and peers with blurry eyes at the alarm clock on the dresser – it is just past four in the morning, still many hours before sunrise.

A faint strip of light illuminates the space beneath the bedroom door. A shadow moves past the door, momentarily blocking the light.

Still with the fog of sleep clouding his brain, Ten climbs out of the bed, shivering as his bare feet hit the cold wooden floor. He just about floats to the door, carefully opens it, and pads down the dark hallway. 

The rest of the apartment is still bathed in pre-dawn blackness, except for the dim glow coming from the kitchen. The only light here comes from the one above the stove, where Johnny is standing and silently watching the coffee pot boil.

Johnny turns when he hears Ten’s footsteps. Even though he is still barely awake, and though Johnny’s face is barely visible in the dim blue light, Ten’s heart flips when Johnny smiles gently at him. Johnny is wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung grey sweatpants that hug the toned curve of his ass and reveal the massive plane of his back, and Ten can’t help himself from drifting over to where Johnny stands and curling his smaller body against Johnny’s larger one, savoring the heat that radiates from Johnny’s muscular back.

He closes his eyes and hums into Johnny’s skin, winding his arms around Johnny’s waist and pressing their bodies together. Johnny gives a contended sigh and leans back, letting Ten sap the warmth from his body. “Morning,” Johnny murmurs, voice raspy and barely audible above the steady hissing sound of the stove. “Why are you awake so early? You should go back to bed.”

Ten makes an indecipherable noise into Johnny’s back, and Johnny chuckles. Ten feels the vibrations against his cheek, and it makes his skin prickle and flush.

Johnny squeezes Ten’s hands where they press into his stomach. “Ten,” he says again, a bit firmer.

Ten doesn’t respond, suddenly hyper-focused on the feeling of Johnny’s muscular ass against his stomach. He breathes hot over Johnny’s back and noses into him as he tightens his grip on Johnny’s waist. He tilts his head and presses his lips against Johnny’s back, shivering at the tingling feeling that spreads from the sensitive skin on his lips throughout the rest of his body. The delicate nerve endings in his lips detect the curve and divot of every muscle and sinew beneath Johnny’s smooth skin, pick up on the heartbeat that pulses through his abdomen, vibrating in his ribs and vertebrae. Idly, Ten thinks that he might still be dreaming. The hands and lips that touch Johnny seem to be separate from his body. His eyes are closed, his mind suspended in a hazy fog of slowly growing desire.

He isn’t sure how long he stands like this, mouthing and pressing into Johnny, but his eyes snap open when the coffee pot lets out a high-pitched whistle and Johnny shakes himself off to pull a mug off the top shelf and pour himself a cup. Ten groans, rubbing at his eyes groggily. Johnny laughs quietly again.

“Wait for me on the couch,” Johnny urges gently, giving Ten a small nudge on the shoulder in the direction of the living room. Too sleepy to protest, Ten drifts towards the couch and sinks down, eyes immediately heavy as the cushions swallow him up. He turns onto his side and pulls a pillow beneath his head, lulled as he listens to the sounds of Johnny moving quietly around the kitchen. He has just enough presence of mind to fumble his glasses off again and drop them somewhere in the direction of the coffee table before he drifts off, body buzzing and head heavy with sleep.

He stirs again as a heavy, warm weight presses up against his back. Ten wiggles his body and shifts backwards, hips pushing back of their own accord into the solid mass behind him. Johnny sighs deeply into his ear, sending a full-body shiver that vibrates through his spine to his toes. Johnny’s breath is warm on his neck, on the shell of his ear, and he murmurs something that Ten’s sleepy brain doesn’t pick up on. The words don’t matter, though, not really. What matters is that Johnny keeps whispering into his ear, hugs him closer on the couch, grips Ten’s body firmly against his own like Ten is a part of him. 

Ten lets out a sound, somewhere between a squeak and a soft moan, when Johnny gently bites his neck and winds his long leg over Ten’s hip, and Ten feels the hot press of Johnny’s length through the fabric of sweatpants. Johnny’s body is burning hot, like an electric blanket over him, and Ten is stuck somewhere between the gentle urge to either fall back asleep in Johnny’s protective, narcotic embrace or let Johnny pin him flat against the couch and grind into him until he is red, raw, and screaming Johnny’s name into the couch cushions.

But, of course, Johnny has other plans.

Johnny licks the sensitive skin behind Ten’s ear and delicately scrapes his teeth along the side of his neck. Ten whines and arches his back reflexively, then moves his hand until it rests against the side of Johnny’s thigh that is still slung over him. He rubs at the muscle, pressing his palm flat against the soft fabric, heat pooling in his gut as the muscle under his hand jumps when Johnny flexes his leg to push into him more firmly. Johnny winds a large hand through the hair on the back of Ten’s head, gently at first, then he suddenly grips Ten’s hair and pulls his head back. Ten gasps at the feeling, his own dick twitching in his shorts, as his flushed face is suddenly pulled free of the couch cushion.

Still with Ten’s hair firmly in his grasp, Johnny lowers his lips to Ten’s ear and whispers, “good morning, beautiful.” He yanks Ten’s hair again, pulling a surprised whimper from Ten’s mouth, then presses his lips into Ten’s for a deep kiss. At this angle, all Ten can do is reach out with his tongue and let Johnny bite at his lip and pant into his open mouth.

Johnny releases his grip on Ten’s hair and lets Ten’s head fall back against the couch. Ten feels the solid weight of Johnny lift off him, before large hands are suddenly grabbing him by the hips and flipping him over onto his back.

Ten is met with the dizzying sight of Johnny looming over him, suspending his body with two hands on the armrest behind Ten’s head. Johnny’s huge chest is flushed red and heaving, his lips parted and his dark hair falling into his eyes. Ten swallows as he gazes up at Johnny, feeling tiny under Johnny’s massive presence above him. His eyes wander down Johnny’s chest to the silhouette of his erection pushing against the loose fabric of his sweatpants. He bites his lip and looks up at Johnny through his lashes, watching Johnny follow his gaze.

Still breathing heavily, Johnny pulls one hand back from the arm rest to pet it over Ten’s chest, fingers grazing up under his shirt. Ten’s stomach tenses when Johnny’s palm presses flat into his stomach. Fully splayed out, Johnny’s hand nearly spans the length of his waist.

Johnny’s hand travels up, over his ribs, then rests on his sternum. Ten’s heart pounds nearly out of his ribcage when Johnny’s hand moves up, even further, and rests on the base of his throat, stretching out the neck of his t-shirt. Ten’s breaths come out quick and heavy at the feeling of Johnny’s large palm resting on his throat, fingers ghosting over his pulse point. Ten tilts his head back into the cushions, offering up more of himself, almost as if he is caught in a trance. Johnny’s gaze is thick like honey as he stares down at Ten’s neck, dangerous desire written plainly on his face.

When Ten gulps, his Adam’s apple dips and pushes up against Johnny’s palm. Johnny lifts his eyes to Ten’s, then he cocks his head to the side, an almost imperceptibly small movement, asking for permission. Ten understands, though, and nods as best he can.

Johnny breathes out a shaky breath, shifts where he is straddling Ten’s hips with his thighs, then tightens his grip on Ten’s neck. Ten is hyper-aware of the feeling of blood pumping up through his arteries, can hear the rush and pounding in his ears when Johnny presses his powerful fingers into his soft flesh. His head spins and he rolls his eyes back into his head when Johnny pushes their hips together and lowers his mouth to Ten’s, not kissing him, just capturing Ten’s shaking, weak breaths in his mouth.

Even as Johnny tightens his grip, power and strength radiating from his hand, he uses his thumb to pet delicately over the spot where Ten’s jaw meets his throat. All Ten can feel is Johnny’s hand on his windpipe, all other sensations forgotten and unimportant. When he keens into Johnny’s mouth, he can feel his larynx vibrating weakly under Johnny’s firm grip. The muscles in his throat jump instinctually, his mind-bending, all-consuming arousal fighting against the equally primal urge to free himself from the thrall of the predator above him.

Just as Ten starts to see stars behind his eyes, Johnny releases his grasp. Ten’s head still pounds, but his neck tingles with pleasure when Johnny presses his mouth into the spot where his fingers had just been, tenderly licking over the pale pink marks that are starting to bloom on his skin.

Ten catches his breath and opens his eyes slowly, gazing blearily down at the top of Johnny’s head. As though sensing him looking, Johnny raises his face and presses his mouth into Ten’s, then sits back on his heels. Johnny’s dangerous right hand traces delicately over the bruises on Ten’s neck, and Ten whimpers when Johnny applies the faintest hint of pressure once more. Johnny bites his lip and squeezes again, then releases, leaving Ten panting desperately.

Ten is sure he has never been so turned on in his life. His cock throbs in his shorts, achingly hard and twitching whenever Johnny tenses his fingers. Johnny pets over his neck, tracing shapes with his nails, then slides his hand up, over Ten’s jaw, to rest his index and middle fingers on Ten’s lower lip with his thumb in the soft spot below Ten’s chin.

When Johnny pulls down, Ten opens his mouth willingly for him, biting back a moan as Johnny pushes two long fingers past his lips. Ten laps at Johnny’s fingers with his tongue, arousal pulsing through him at the intensity of Johnny’s gaze. Johnny pushes his fingers in deeper, and Ten swallows around them, tongue curling and spit pooling in his mouth as he does. Ten closes his mouth and sucks, tears beading at the corners of his eyes. He whimpers around the fingers in his mouth, then again when Johnny laces his other hand through Ten’s hair and pulls.

Ten squirms under Johnny’s weight, bucking up his hips desperately for some relief for the pressure, slowly building between his legs, that is starting to become unbearable.

“Keep still, baby,” Johnny breathes, which Ten can barely hear over the pounding of his wild heartbeat in his ears. “Wouldn’t want you to choke.” Ten practically mewls at this, sucking Johnny’s fingers deeper into his mouth, tongue flexing every time Johnny rubs over it.

Johnny tugs on his hair again and Ten cries out, a wet, muffled sound. Johnny makes a noise deep in his chest and pushes their hips together. Ten’s hips jump up to meet him, and he almost starts crying when he feels the solid, hot weight of Johnny’s clothed erection dig into his thigh. 

Smirking, Johnny slides his fingers out of Ten’s mouth and, before Ten has time to catch his breath, reaches again under Ten’s shirt to rub at his nipples, fingers warm and dripping wet with spit.

“Johnny,” Ten cries out, neglected cock throbbing against his thigh, every nerve ending on fire where Johnny deftly squeezes and pinches with his slick fingers.

“Yes, baby?” Johnny murmurs, even as he finally, finally, rests his free hand on Ten’s arousal. Ten’s hips buck up, and he doesn’t even care how desperate he must look (and sound), completely under Johnny’s intoxicating spell. “Tell me what you want.”

“Your – fuck,” Ten cuts himself off, hissing when Johnny scrapes his nails over his sensitive nipple, barely able to form a cohesive thought. “I want your – you, I want you,” he pants. “In my mouth.” As soon as he says it, Johnny squeezes his dick, sparking pleasure through him. Johnny hums deeply, eyes dark and pupils blown. He releases Ten from his toying grasp, then sits back onto the other side of the couch. He watches as Ten sits up and catches his breath, letting the air fully fill his lungs. He still feels somewhat disoriented, as the room is still dark and the rain still falls steadily, no clock in sight.

Ten uses the back of his hand to wipe the spit that had been running down his chin, watching as Johnny’s eyes follow the movement. He lets himself slide clumsily off the couch, swallowing thickly as Johnny shifts over to sit on the cushion in front of him, spreading his legs wide. Johnny breathes heavily as he gazes down at Ten, resting his large hands on his spread thighs.

Dizzy with desire, Ten raises himself onto his knees and replaces Johnny’s hands with his own, sliding his hands up to rest on the inside of Johnny’s large thighs. He mewls again and nuzzles in between Johnny’s legs, rubbing his cheek against Johnny’s cock. It radiates heat and twitches every time Ten makes a little noise. His mouth waters at the feeling. Johnny pets a shaking hand through Ten’s hair, then lets it fall back to his side when Ten looks up at him with needy, watery eyes.

Ten mouths once more at Johnny’s length, then hooks his fingers into the waistband of Johnny’s sweatpants and pulls down, Johnny lifting his hips to help him.

He bites back a moan when Johnny’s cock springs out, sitting thick and flushed against his taut stomach. Ten doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the sight. He lifts a hand to his mouth, licks a stripe over his palm, then grasps Johnny’s cock. He is rock-solid, veins twitching under Ten’s palm, the delicate skin warm and velvety smooth. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he shifts up on his knees and lowers himself to Johnny’s length, breathing hot over the head. Ten just grips him first, ghosting his lips over the tip. Above him, Johnny curses quietly.

Ten licks his lips, though he finds that his mouth feels dry.

Still caught up in that dream-like trance of arousal that Johnny has him in, Ten doesn’t hear the rattle and click of the door. He doesn’t hear the soft patter of footsteps, or the thud of a briefcase on the hallway floor, as he continues to mouth over the head of Johnny’s dick, savoring the taste and the way Johnny throbs under his lips.

He does notice, however, when a voice says, deep and dangerous into his right ear, “I’m not interrupting anything important, am I?”

Ten startles and spins around breathlessly, heart pounding, to come face to face with Jaehyun squatting next to him, gaze flicking in mild amusement from Ten on the floor to Johnny on the couch. Jaehyun is wearing a suit, and even in the low light of the room, Ten can tell how rumpled it looks. Jaehyun’s eyes look dark and tired, too, his hair sitting in wet clumps on his pale forehead.

“How did it go?” Ten is surprised to hear Johnny’s voice. He realizes that he is still gripping Johnny’s dick and he releases it, letting his hand fall to his side.

Still squatting, Jaehyun turns to Johnny and addresses him as though Johnny doesn’t look completely wrecked, his swollen dick not two inches from Ten’s red, dripping mouth. “Well, I could tell you everything went according to plan, but that would be a lie.” Jaehyun gives a wry smile.

Johnny hums thoughtfully. “What’s the damage?” Jaehyun exchanges a meaningful look with Johnny, then looks at Ten.

“How are you with bodily fluids?” Jaehyun asks. Ten’s mind goes blank, like he has completely missed a turn in the conversation.

“ … What?” he squeaks out, trying to figure out if Jaehyun is making a joke. Jaehyun just stares at him though, his face characteristically blank. He gives an exasperated sigh, then unbuttons his suit jacket and shrugs it off. Ten gasps.

The entire front of Jaehyun’s shirt is covered in a dark stain that spans from his collar to his stomach. The dim blue light of the room makes it impossible to see the color, but Ten knows – somehow, he knows exactly what it is.

“Is that …” he begins, unable to voice the word aloud even though he already knows the answer.

“Blood,” Jaehyun finishes, his voice completely even. “Yes. Not mine. Well, not most of it, anyway.” Ten’s head spins, and he looks up at Johnny, then to Jaehyun, for some reasonable explanation as to why Jaehyun is soaked in blood and no one seems to care. But the two are still exchanging a _look_ , seeming to communicate something with each other wordlessly.

Jaehyun turns back to Ten. “I’m sorry. Weren’t you two in the middle of something?” Ten stares back at him, starting to blush and feeling oddly exposed, as though Jaehyun hadn’t just fucked his mouth not ten hours earlier. “It’s a bit early, though, isn’t it?” Jaehyun continues, looking down at his watch. “Still not even sunrise, Johnny, and you’ve already got Ten on his knees for you. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.” Johnny chuckles in response and smiles down at Ten.

“You’re right, princess. He’s such a good boy for us, don’t you think?” Ten flushes. Johnny pats the spot next to him on the couch and Jaehyun sinks down next to him. As Ten just sits there and watches, Jaehyun leans into Johnny and lets Johnny pull him into a heady, open-mouthed kiss. Ten stares, enraptured, at the wet slide of their lips against each other, the flash of tongue, the quick movement and pull of teeth against lips. Johnny starts stroking himself, sighing quietly into Jaehyun’s mouth as he does so.

As turned on as Ten is by the sight, he still can’t wrap his head around the fact that Jaehyun is covered in blood, even if - especially if - it is someone else’s. “Jaehyun,” he says, his voice shakier and quieter than he was expecting. Jaehyun nor Johnny must not hear him, as they continue kissing deeply, caught up in each other’s mouths. Johnny grips the front of Jaehyun’s shirt and pulls him closer.

“Jaehyun,” Ten repeats, making his voice louder. After a second, Jaehyun pulls away from Johnny with a wet noise, breathing heavily as he looks down at Ten. Ten notices that when Johnny releases his hand from the front of Jaehyun’s shirt, his palm and knuckles are covered in dark liquid. Ten swallows.

“What?” Jaehyun says, distractedly, as his gaze returns to Johnny’s lips. He rests his hand on Johnny’s thigh and shifts closer to him, already starting to look away from Ten.

“Why – why are you …” Ten swallows again. “Why are you covered in blood? What’s going on?”

Jaehyun gives another look to Johnny. “Gunshot wound.”

Ten balks.

Johnny sighs. “Jaehyun,” he says, almost in a warning. Jaehyun rolls his eyes.

“I wasn’t shot. Can’t say as much for the other guy, though. All this blood – it’s not my typical Sunday, but it is a hazard of the job. I was lucky to get out of there with just a scratch and all my fingers still attached to my body.” He grins down at Ten, his teeth flashing white in the dark room. “It’s fortunate for you that I’m good at my job, or else we might not be having this conversation right now.”

Johnny tuts at him. “You’re scaring him, Jaehyun.” Jaehyun ignores him to continue smiling down at Ten. “I have a stack of wet washcloths ready for you in the kitchen,” Johnny says. “Why don’t you go grab them, and I’ll clean you up?” Jaehyun winks at Ten, then stands up from the couch and stretches out his arms and neck. When he turns and walks into the kitchen, Ten can see that the stain spreads all the way around his side.

Ten, still thoroughly confused, looks back up at Johnny. Johnny smiles comfortingly at him. “He’s fine, baby. If you haven’t already been able to tell, he loves the dramatics. We’ll explain later, don’t worry.” All Ten can do is nod from his spot on the floor between Johnny’s legs, though he doesn’t feel particularly reassured. 

Jaehyun returns from the kitchen with a small stack of towels, a bottle of antiseptic, and his shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He sits next to Johnny and hands Johnny the supplies, then finishes unbuttoning his shirt. He shrugs it off and tosses it onto the floor next to Ten, who tries not to look at it, and tries (in vain) to ignore the sharp, iron smell that hits his nostrils. Jaehyun’s torso is also covered in blood, though it seems to have dried more than the stain on his shirt.

Johnny unfolds a towel, splashes it with antiseptic, and begins wiping and patting at the dark red puddles on Jaehyun’s chest and stomach. Jaehyun sinks back into the couch and closes his eyes, letting Johnny wipe his muscular chest with gentle circles.

Ten still doesn’t know what time it is, though a faint, grey glow has begun to worm its way under the curtain of the window. Although he isn’t tired anymore, he still somehow feels like he is in a dream as he watches Johnny clean the partially dried blood off Jaehyun’s chest like they do this every Sunday morning. Johnny finishes in about five minutes, wiping over Jaehyun’s long torso with a pass of the final clean towel. He presses a kiss to Jaehyun’s sternum, then whispers, “all done.” Jaehyun smiles down at him, eyes twinkling.

Ten expects Jaehyun to start kissing Johnny again, maybe even climb into his lap, but Jaehyun cracks his neck and slides onto the floor next to Ten. He bites playfully at Johnny’s knee.

“I’m not too late to join in on the fun, am I?” he says. A flush spreads from Ten’s face to his chest when Johnny looks down at both of them with an expression of pure, unbridled lust. There is something else in his face, too – tenderness, Ten is sure, that makes his heart pound just a bit faster. Johnny licks his lips and spreads his thighs again. His erection, which had fallen somewhat during this whole ordeal, perks up again, moisture beading at the tip.

“Of course, not, princess,” Johnny murmurs. “There’s always room for you both.” Jaehyun hums and wastes no time in raising himself on his knees, sliding his lips over Johnny’s cock and sinking down, nearly to the base. Johnny groans loudly and lets his head fall back against the cushion behind him. Ten watches, enthralled and only a bit jealous, as Jaehyun bobs his head up and down Johnny’s shaft, taking him into his mouth expertly and gripping tightly on his inner thigh. Jaehyun goes at it for an enthusiastic minute before pulling off and glancing over at Ten, his lips red and swollen, his chest heaving.

“Don’t just sit there,” he says, then thumbs roughly over Ten’s lower lip. “Put this pretty mouth to work, why don’t you?” Ten flushes, but does as he is told. He shifts up on his knees, pressed shoulder-to-massive shoulder with Jaehyun, then leans forward to lick a broad stripe up the underside of Johnny’s cock, a thrill coursing through him when he feels it jump under his tongue. Jaehyun grips the base, his nails still digging into Johnny’s thigh, as Ten finally sinks his lips over Johnny, letting it fill his mouth. He flattens and flexes his tongue, hollows his cheeks, takes it in messily, lets spit run down his chin and Johnny’s length, guides Johnny’s cock to slip into his cheek and lets Johnny feel the bulge.

He pops off and lets Jaehyun replace his mouth, starts sucking bruises instead into the flesh of Johnny’s inner thigh. Above them, Johnny is alternating between deep moans and a nonsensical stream of curses and sweet praise. Ten stops his sucking to rest his head on Johnny’s leg and gaze through heavy-lidded eyes at Jaehyun, then up at Johnny. The light, while still the weak, blue-grey of a rainy dawn, has grown just enough to illuminate the side of Johnny’s flushed, handsome face. Johnny runs a hand through his hair, pushing it off his brow, then meets Ten’s eyes. He pets over Ten’s hair and Ten nuzzles into the touch, the moment feeling intimate even with the obscene slurping of Jaehyun’s mouth.

When Ten bites the soft flesh of Johnny’s inner thigh, Johnny grunts in surprise, bucking up his hips. Jaehyun huffs out through his nose, annoyed, but keeps going. Jaehyun’s body is hot and strong against his, and Ten presses into him, tingling where their bodies meet. His own erection still sits neglected against his leg, but he barely even registers it, instead feeling the pleasure course through him in waves at the sensation of Jaehyun pressed against him, at the sight of Jaehyun’s stretched and swollen lips, the taste of Johnny’s thigh on his tongue. Johnny has one hand in Ten’s hair, one hand in Jaehyun’s, as he bucks up his hips again, hissing out a moan when Jaehyun takes him in all the way.

Jaehyun makes a noise of encouragement, looking meaningfully at Ten with watering eyes. Johnny must be close; Jaehyun probably knows all his tells, but Ten isn’t sure what to do. Jaehyun slows his movements for a moment to cast his eyes downwards. Ten stares at him blankly, before Jaehyun rolls his eyes and wiggles his index finger at Ten. _Oh._

Heart pounding so strongly he is sure both Jaehyun and Johnny can hear it, Ten slips his finger into his mouth. Johnny watches, enthralled, desire written plainly on his face. Ten lets it linger for moment, probably longer than it needs to, and pulls it out, wet and shining. Johnny murmurs something to himself then drops his head back against the couch, the long, beautiful curve of his neck on full display.

Ten is sure he has ever seen Johnny like this before. He is so used to Johnny being in charge, taking control. Now, Johnny looks entirely wrecked, at the mercy of him and Jaehyun. Johnny would probably do anything for Jaehyun; _would he do anything for me?_ In this moment, Ten is sure he would do anything for Johnny, anything to make him feel as good as Johnny makes him feel. He knows Johnny could take back control at any moment he wanted to – he thinks again of Johnny’s hand on his throat, powerful yet restrained – but he can’t help the arousal that courses through him upon seeing Johnny splayed out like this in front of them.

Jaehyun makes another noise in his throat, more urgent, though he doesn’t pause his movements this time. Ten shifts again, nudging gently against Jaehyun for better access. Johnny, almost as though he is driven by instinct, widens his legs. Ten lifts his trembling hand and trails his knuckles over the inside of Johnny’s thigh. Johnny shivers and moans deeply. Ten traces his fingers over the crease where Johnny’s thigh meets his ass, the skin hot and smooth beneath his touch. When he presses his finger up, higher, to Johnny’s entrance, Johnny’s thighs twitch. It is wet, slick, Ten realizes with a thrill, from the saliva running out of Jaehyun’s mouth, down Johnny’s shaft, over his balls, into the crease.

It has been a while since Ten touched anyone like this (anyone other than himself, of course). He almost forgot, as he slides his finger into Johnny and feels Johnny clamp around him, how amazing it feels to push this kind of pleasure deep inside someone, to make them bite back curses, as Johnny does now, when Ten flexes and shifts and presses, pushes in another small finger to join the first. Ten tries to time his thrusts to the bobbing of Jaehyun’s head, but he needn’t bother much longer, for Ten is only in him for less than a minute before Johnny clenches around him and cries out, the sound deep and throaty, squeezing the hands that he still has in Ten and Jaehyun’s hair. Jaehyun hums and smirks up at Johnny, hollowing his cheeks as he sucks him dry. Ten pulls out, though he lets his hand rest on Johnny’s thigh, caressing it as Johnny continues to moan and twitch as the aftershocks course through him.

Johnny’s chest and face are flushed pink, and he sighs deeply when Jaehyun finally pulls off, licking his lips. Johnny opens his eyes and gazes down at the two of them. Ten feels a swell of pride when Johnny smiles and cards his hands through their hair, obviously pleased (if the blissed-out expression on his face is any indication).

Johnny cracks his neck and sits up. “Jaehyun, baby, hand me your shirt. Let me throw it in the wash so the blood doesn’t stain.” Ten starts, having nearly forgotten about the blood-soaked article of clothing sitting in a messy lump next to him. Jaehyun reaches around him and grabs the shirt, tossing it to Johnny. Ten moves out of the way as Johnny stands, folds the shirt carefully, then walks down the dark hallway towards what is presumably the laundry room.

Ten watches Johnny’s naked, retreating form, then turns back around to find Jaehyun staring shamelessly at him.

“What?” he says, though he thinks he knows exactly what. Jaehyun spits into his hand and reaches down between Ten’s legs and grips him firmly. Ten whimpers helplessly as his Jaehyun strokes his aching erection, then he climbs into Jaehyun’s lap and pushes him against the couch, accidentally kicking the coffee table out of the way as he does it.

Johnny comes back to find them grabbing desperately at each other, panting in each other’s mouths, Ten grinding down on Jaehyun’s lap as Jaehyun strokes both of them off.

Johnny already has a warm bath drawn and clean sheets on the bed for when they finish. Ten luxuriates in the water long enough to start nodding off again, then he lets Johnny help him up, towel him off, and tuck him naked into bed. Jaehyun follows not long after, curling up into Ten’s side in an uncharacteristic show of affection.

As the morning light finally settles into the apartment, only partially obscured by the blinds, Ten drifts back asleep as he listens to Johnny move around the apartment, dress, and make himself a second cup of coffee, then slip out the front door as quietly as he can.

Ten’s dreams aren’t as peaceful as he hopes. Gunshots echo down empty hallways. Unfamiliar hands latch onto his throat, pressing in pain where there should be pleasure. Dark red stains bloom like carnations behind his eyelids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued ~ ~ ~ ~
> 
> Also I’m only just now realizing that I fully missed my chance to call the club the “king of hearts,” after the iconic wayv song... smh I’m a full on dumbass but it’s ok


	5. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost 30k oops
> 
> (chapter title is a Dinah Washington song, in the playlist below)
> 
> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)

The wind rattles the glass of the small window in the alcove by the bar, snapping Ten out of his daydream. One more time, he breathes deeply of the cold night air that slips through the open window, then pulls it shut with a sharp tug.

The typical weeknight crowd has been slow to appear, kept at bay by the cold and the winter storm warning. A daring few have come, though; it is mostly the regular crowd, the old-timers who all but live at the Ace. Ten pauses at the bar to place a single drink on his tray before walking to the row of tables closest to the stage where an older man sits alone. Keeping his head down, he places the drink on the table, gives a courteous bow, then backs away.

As he stands in his usual spot by the wall, he does a quick head count of the patrons: only five altogether. He sighs as he adds up the tips that he is likely to get; the small sum is barely worth it for the hassle of trying to commute home in a potential snowstorm. His gaze flicks back to the window, where a gentle flurry of snow has just started falling outside. He had been planning to call in sick, but Shuhua had guilted him into coming (which didn’t take much convincing on her part; the thought of her taking the bus home alone in a storm was enough to get him to agree to come, as much as he had grumbled about it to her and to himself on the way over).

Several of the musicians failed to show, and the band’s music sounds quiet and hollow without them as it echoes through the club. The regular patrons don’t seem to mind, though. They come regardless of who or what is playing, content to watch the stage with blank expressions, drink their drinks, smoke their cigars, and leave at closing time. Ten almost envies them, sometimes; how they seem to find some semblance of pleasure in this simple routine, that they know exactly how they will be spending their evenings.

He can’t say the same for himself, exactly. Ever since Johnny and Jaehyun entered the club that one night, he feels like his life is spinning off its axis – though not necessarily in a bad way. Just different.

And speak of the devils.

Movement by the door catches Ten’s eye as two figures step through the blue velvet curtain, bringing the cold air in with them. Johnny holds the curtain open for Jaehyun, then shakes his head to clear the snowflakes from his dark hair. He brushes some snow off Jaehyun’s shoulders, then they walk together to their booth off to the side of the stage.

Ten’s heart pounds out of his chest as he watches them shrug off their coats and settle in. It has been a while since he has seen them in here together – a few weeks, at least. Johnny lifts and hand and rests it on the back of Jaehyun’s neck, fingers tracing circles over his skin, then leans into Jaehyun’s ear to whisper something. Ten half-expects them to turn around and look for him, but Jaehyun turns his head sharply towards a table closer to the stage. Confused, Ten follows his gaze, which seems to be directed at the older man from earlier – one of his regulars.

Unable to stay away any longer, Ten straightens his vest and makes his way to their table. Bowing slightly to hide his flush, he speaks to his feet. “The usual, sirs?” When neither responds, he raises his eyes. Jaehyun still stares intently at the table by the stage. Johnny, brushing his fingers idly through the hair on the back of Jaehyun’s neck, smiles up at him with dangerous eyes. Ten swallows.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Johnny begins, tracing his eyes over Ten’s lips. “Maybe you’d like to recommend me something tonight. Switch things up a bit.”

“Of course,” Ten manages, willing his tongue to work. “We have a thirty-year aged bourbon, just opened. Perfect for the weather.” 

“Sounds lovely,” Johnny murmurs. “What do you think, princess?” Jaehyun doesn’t answer. Johnny hums, still carding his hand through Jaehyun’s hair. “Yes, that’ll do just fine,” Johnny says, almost to himself. Ten bows again and hurries away to the bar, casting a glance back at the table by the stage as he does so. He doesn’t see anything notable about the older man – he isn’t handsome, but he’s not particularly bad looking, either. Just a normal businessman in a normal suit. 

When Shuhua sets the two glasses on the counter behind him, he leans towards her and asks, “what do you know about that man?” She follows his gaze.

“Him?” she asks, clearly disinterested. “I don’t know, nothing. He usually drinks vodka straight, sometimes gets a martini. Why, you’re into old guys now?”

“What? No, I was just curious.” Ten mutters, setting the drinks on his tray. “Never mind.” She gives him a knowing look, then pulls out a rag and starts wiping the counter. He carries the drinks back to Johnny and Jaehyun’s table and sets them down carefully, skin prickling at the feeling of Johnny’s eyes on him the entire time. Just as Ten is about to walk away, Jaehyun abruptly sits up and snaps his head in the direction of the exit.

“Johnny,” Jaehyun says, his voice quiet yet urgent.

“I see,” Johnny mutters, barely loud enough for Ten to hear. Ten cranes his neck to follow Jaehyun’s gaze towards the door, but he can’t figure out what they are looking at. He sneaks a glance at the table by the stage to find it empty, the older man nowhere in sight. A martini glass sits on the table, half-drunk. 

Jaehyun stands first, slipping out the booth, never taking his eyes off the door at the far end of the club. Johnny follows, but not before taking a deep swallow of his drink. Ten backs away from the table to let them out, completely bewildered. _Do they know that man?_ “Where – what’s going on? Where are you going?” he asks, suddenly feeling very small next to Jaehyun and Johnny as they help each other back into their coats. Jaehyun doesn’t give him a second glance, instead striding purposefully towards the door as he winds his scarf around his neck. Johnny pauses his buttoning, looking down at Ten with an expression Ten can’t decipher. He flicks his eyes towards Jaehyun’s quickly retreating form, then back down at Ten. Suddenly, he smiles, and Ten’s heart melts just a little.

“Tonight’s your lucky night, Ten. You get to see Jaehyun at work.”

_At work …_ “He’s on a case?” Ten says, as it finally clicks.

Johnny nods. “That’s our target. He’s on the move, but sooner than we expected.” He finishes buttoning his coat, fastening it at the collar, and looks back at the door, the urgency plain on his face. “We have to go now, Ten. Jaehyun already knows the target’s destination, but we shouldn’t get too far behind. Come with.” All Ten can do is stare up at Johnny, his mind racing.

“What do you mean – come with? On the case?” he stammers, bewildered. “But – Johnny, I’m working, I can’t just leave.”

Johnny smiles down at him. “Of course, you can. Your shift’s almost over, isn’t it? And besides, the snow is really starting to come down. Come with, and we can drop you off at home after. I wouldn’t feel right knowing you were out by yourself, trying to get home in this weather.”

As much as Ten wants to argue, wants to find reasons why he can’t just leave his shift thirty minutes early to go with Johnny to do – what, exactly? Trail a suspect? But he can already hear himself agreeing, finding himself unable to argue with Johnny, fully convinced by his every word. “Okay,” he says breathlessly, and it is worth it just for the heart-stopping smile that Johnny gives him. “But, Shuhua – I can’t just let her go home by herself.”

“Tell her to come. We can drop her off on the way,” Johnny says as he winds his scarf around his neck. “We’ll be out front with Jaehyun’s car. I can give you –” He looks at his watch. “Four minutes. Then we have to leave.” With that, Johnny strides away, and he is already through the door by the time Ten’s brain catches up to the conversation. He turns to the bar, where Shuhua is shamelessly staring at him, swiveling her head between him and the door. She tilts her head in confusion, silently asking for explanation. Ten hurries over to her.

“What was that about?” she asks loudly. Ten shushes her, casting a worried glance at the man huddled over his drink several stools away. He leans closer to her. “I’m leaving now, with Johnny and Jaehyun.” She makes a face, but before she can open her mouth to say anything, Ten continues. “I know our shift isn’t over yet, but – ” He pauses, unsure of how to explain the situation. He decides to just be honest, which is what Shuhua responds to the best, anyway. “Johnny asked me to come with them on a job, and I’m going. I didn’t want to leave you, so he offered to drive you home, too. But it has to be now.”

To his complete and utter surprise, Shuhua pulls her towel off her shoulder and tosses it under the sink. “Great, let’s go.”

He stares at her. “Wait, really?” She has already started shoving her bartending utensils back in their drawers.

“Uh, yeah,” she says, looking at him like he is out of his mind for questioning her. “Honestly, screw management for making us come into work in this weather. I can just tell the floor manager that the bus routes are closing early tonight. What is he going to do, fire us?”

“I guess not,” Ten says as Shuhua takes the half-empty glass of liquor directly from the hand of the man at the far end of the bar. He must be too drunk or tired to notice, just slumping down further in his stool with a weak groan. “You’re going to tell him?”

“Yes, since I know you would just be all snively about it. I think he wants to fuck me, anyway, so he usually lets me off the hook pretty easily.” She winks at him, then walks out from behind the bar and strides over to the hallway at the far end of the room. Ten follows her, dazed. As she disappears into the office, he goes into the staffroom and quickly retrieves their coats and bags from their lockers. 

He meets Shuhua back in the hallway a minute later, where she takes her coat and bag with a smug grin plastered across her face. “Success?” Ten asks, though he already knows.

She winks at him again. “What do you think?”

“I love you,” Ten says, biting back a laugh as he follows her down the hallway and through the nearly empty club. Another waiter looks at them in confusion as they pass, but Ten doesn’t notice, too focused on the pounding of his heart and the thrill that courses through him.

They burst through the side door into the night. Ten’s breath catches in his throat as the chill hits him. Shuhua shrieks as a sudden burst of cold wind blows into them, knocking her backwards into Ten. She steadies herself, then grabs his gloved hand. They sprint down the alley together, where a thick layer of snow has already started accumulating.

On the street, Ten looks around for Jaehyun’s car, his field of vision blurred by the shifting matrix of snow that swirls around them in all directions. “There!” he shouts over the wind, pointing at the black car parked across the street. There are no other cars on the road, so they run across the street with barely a glance in either direction. Shuhua pulls open the door and all but dives inside, pulling Ten in after her. Ten slams the door shut and they both catch their breaths, panting heavily and flushed from the cold.

“All good?” comes Johnny’s amused voice. Ten looks over to find Johnny in the backseat next to Shuhua, watching them both with a gentle smile. Without warning, Jaehyun kicks the car into drive, pulling out into a U-turn and peeling down the empty street. Johnny holds onto Shuhua to keep her steady, then holds out the seat belt for her. She takes it shyly – _is she blushing, or is that just the cold?_ – and lets Johnny help her strap in. Ten buckles himself in just in time for Jaehyun to whip the car down a side street, somehow not skidding out despite the heavy layer of wet snow that coats the road. 

The city is nearly empty, the streets deserted save for the lone few figures bundled up in dark coats, bracing themselves against the wind. The snow blows against the front window, windshield wipers working overtime to prevent it from building up too much. Over Jaehyun’s shoulder, Ten can see that his knuckles are white from how tightly he grips the wheel.

“Where are we taking you, sweetheart?” Johnny says, peering down at Shuhua. By now, Ten is somewhat used to the dizzying feeling that comes with being the object of Johnny’s intense, undivided attention. Shuhua, though unshakeable as she usually is, seems to melt under his gaze.

“Um – Chinatown,” she manages, unable to pull her eyes from Johnny’s face. “Right next to the bridge.” Johnny smiles again.

“Perfect. That’s on our way,” he says, his voice gentle.

“Oh, good,” she squeaks out. “Thank you for driving me.”

“Of course,” Johnny purrs, flashing another smile down at her. “You’re very beautiful, by the way.” Shuhua gulps as Johnny lifts a hand to her face. Ten watches the interaction, fascinated to see her like this. When Johnny meets his eyes for a moment, Ten feels his cheeks go pink. 

“May I?” Johnny murmurs, his fingers moving to hover by the back of her head. She nods, still caught up in Johnny’s gaze. Johnny grabs lightly onto the back of her ponytail and tugs at the elastic, pulling her hair free. It falls in a shiny, dark curtain over her shoulders, glistening from the wet of melted snow. Johnny runs his hand through it, rapt, as the black strands slide through his fingers like water. Ten hears Shuhua sigh quietly, just barely audible over the muffled howling of the wind.

A strange feeling tugs at the pit of Ten’s stomach. His first thought is that the feeling would be jealousy - jealousy over Johnny’s attention being pulling in yet another direction, away from him or Jaehyun. It’s not jealousy, though. The feeling is closer to … closer to … a strange sense of pride, or warmth, as he watches Johnny caress his hands through Shuhua’s soft hair. Pride in his friend for being worthy of Johnny’s attention; pride in Johnny for reducing Shuhua to a blushing facsimile of her usual self. Warmth from the sight of two people he cares about being caught up in moment of such tender, delicate affection.

Shuhua’s head falls onto Johnny’s shoulder as he continues sliding his hands through her long hair, from her scalp all the way down to the ends. Ten swallows drily when Johnny meets his eyes again. Johnny gives him a reassuring smile, then breaks eye contact to lean down to Shuhua’s ear. He delicately pulls the hair away from her hear, then whispers something that makes her shiver and nod. He pats over the back of her head lovingly, murmuring inaudibly into the top of her scalp.

Suddenly, the car jerks to a stop. “We’re here,” Jaehyun says, looking at them in the rearview mirror. “Johnny, she has to go.” Johnny gently pulls Shuhua’s head off his shoulder. Her face is flushed, a dazed look in her eyes.

“It’s time for you to go, darling. But it was lovely to meet you,” Johnny says as he unbuckles her from her seat. Ten nudges her by the arm, which seems to shake her out of her trance.

“Oh - yes, thank you. Both of you,” she says with a glance at Jaehyun in the front seat. She turns to Ten. “I love you. Be safe.”

“You too,” Ten returns, placing her bag in her hands. She plants a warm kiss on his cheek, then slides out behind Johnny, who holds the door open for her. His large body blocks most of the snow from blowing into the car through the open door, though the cold seeps in regardless. Johnny waits until Shuhua is safely inside her apartment building before climbing back into the car. As soon as the door closes, Jaehyun peels away again, driving through a red light as he turns onto the on-ramp that leads to the bridge.

They drive out of the city, through the residential neighborhoods at the city’s edge, then onto the dark, nearly empty highway. Although Ten knows he should rationally be worried about driving in this weather, he trusts Jaehyun.

At some point, Ten ends up in Johnny’s lap, letting Johnny press delicate kisses into his neck. Johnny runs his tongue over a particularly sensitive spot, causing Ten to let out a surprised whimper. The car skids momentarily before Jaehyun grips the wheel and rights it. He turns around, clearly annoyed. “Don’t distract me,” he says, and that is the end of that.

They drive for what feels like an hour. The snow continues to fall and accumulate, heavier than earlier, causing Jaehyun to finally slow down as his headlights reflect off the snowflakes and reduce his field of vision to a mere few feet in front of the car.

Eventually, Jaehyun turns onto an exit that leads to a dark, forested road. They drive for another ten minutes or so until a large neon motel sign comes into view. Jaehyun guides the car into the parking lot, not bothering to use his signals, and parks in the darkest corner of the lot. Ten can barely see out, but he can make out a few other cars in the lot besides theirs, lit by the weak light of the neon sign.

“Johnny, you can get a room. Preferably on the upper level. Don’t wait up for me,” Jaehyun directs. He pulls his scarf over the lower half of his face, flips up his collar, then leaves the car. Ten tries to watch him, but the darkness and the snow quickly swallow him up.

“Ready? You can wait in the car while I get a key, if you want,” Johnny says, gently pushing Ten off his lap.

“No, I’ll come,” Ten responds. He tightens his coat around himself before following Johnny out of the car. Johnny winds an arm over Ten’s shoulders and guides him in the direction of the main office. Ten sits on the old couch inside as Johnny pays for the room, then follows Johnny up the stairs to the second level of the motel.

The room is freezing, the furniture old and worn. Ten sits on the foot of the bed and watches as Johnny sheds his coat and undoes the top button of his shirt. Johnny walks over to help Ten out of his coat, then rests his hands on Ten’s shoulders. He raises one hand and runs it through the hair on the nape of Ten’s neck.

“Your hair is getting long,” Johnny muses, pulling at a loose curl. “It’s lovely.” Ten bites his lip, remembering the last time Johnny had pulled his hair.

“I know, it is,” he says, saying whatever comes to his head. His eyes flutter closed. “It’s becoming a pain to wash.”

“Really?” Johnny murmurs, rolling the curl between his fingers. “When was the last time you washed it?”

“I don’t know, two days ago?” Ten says distractedly, already caught up in the feeling of Johnny’s fingers running over his scalp. Johnny hums.

“Let me do it for you, then.”

At this, Ten opens his eyes. “Do what – wash my hair?” Johnny nods, completely serious. Ten’s heart beats just a bit faster. “Oh. Oh, yes, that – that would be nice,” he says, watching the smile grow across Johnny’s face.

“Thank you,” Johnny says, stepping away to let Ten stand. Ten isn’t sure why Johnny is thanking _him_ – it should be the other way around, but he lets it go. Johnny takes a chair from the desk and drags it into the bathroom, setting it down in front of the sink.

The bathroom lights are yellow and flickering, the bulbs buzzing quietly overhead. At Johnny’s request, Ten peels off his shirt, vest, and pants, and lets them fall in a messy pile on the floor, left in nothing but his boxers. The bathroom is cold, as cold as the rest of the room, and Ten crosses his goosebump-covered arms over his chest to hide the way his nipples harden into dark buds. He sinks into the chair and lets his head fall back against the sink, the linoleum digging into his neck as he stares up at the ceiling. In his peripheral he watches as Johnny rolls up his sleeves, revealing his strong forearms, then leans over him to run the water from the faucet until it is hot enough for comfort.

“Ready?” Johnny says, voice low, and Ten nods as best he can with his head tilted so far back. Johnny runs his hands through Tens hair dry, tracing his nails lightly over his scalp. Ten suppresses a shudder, though he can’t stop his eyes from falling shut. Johnny tightens his grip and guides Ten’s head back far enough for the water to run over his scalp in strong rivulets, almost hot enough to hurt but not quite. The water falls into his ears, over the back of his neck, and a tingling sensation pulses through his skin from the feeling, like someone is whispering close in his ear.

Johnny cups his hands under the faucet and splashes it onto Ten’s head, massaging it until all his hair is wet and slick. Ten’s mouth falls open and he barely registers the soft moan that slips out when Johnny runs his nails over his scalp once more, alternately tightening and releasing his grip. The chill of the room disappears as a flush spreads from the top of Ten’s head to the bottoms of his feet. Need sits heavy and simmering in the pit of his stomach.

Johnny takes the small bottle of complementary shampoo from the counter and squeezes it onto his palm, then rubs his large hands together to form a lather. He massages it firmly into Ten’s hair, humming out a deep, warm sound as he does. Ten wills himself to crack his eyes open, even as the water runs into them and blurs his vision, to watch Johnny work. Johnny’s face is pure concentration, though he looks almost... serene, caught up in his own thoughts, as he scrubs and massages the shampoo into Ten’s scalp. The powerful muscles of his forearms flex as he grips and releases his fingers, his arms decorated by a network of veins just under his skin. Even in the harsh yellow light of the motel bathroom, Johnny is so handsome it hurts.

Johnny must sense him staring and snaps out of his trance to meet Ten’s eyes. Tens stomach flips and he shifts his gaze to the ceiling instead, finding himself unable to hold eye contact for longer than a few breathless seconds.

Ten lets himself sink deep into the feeling, no longer fighting the full body shudders he feels when a stray droplet of water runs over his neck or Johnny tightens his firm grip. He feels impossibly calm, completely safe in Johnny’s hands; he feels like he is floating, even, or maybe that is all the blood rushing to his head. His scalp tingles pleasantly with every movement of Johnny’s fingers. He almost doesn’t even notice when Johnny shuts off the water and releases his grip, as the warmth lingers on skin long after the water stops running.

“All done,” Johnny murmurs into the top of his head. Ten hums in response. He doesn’t want to move, not really, but his whole body jumps at the sudden feeling of Johnny’s lips tracing over his exposed throat. As much as Ten wants him to, though, Johnny doesn’t linger, pulling his mouth away and leaving Ten trembling in his chair. Ten slowly blinks his eyes open and sits up, rolling his head from side to side to work out the stiffness from the awkward angle.

Johnny is ready with a towel and dries Ten’s hair as best he can. When he finishes, he wraps a new, dry towel around Ten’s shoulders and helps him out of the chair. A sudden wave of dizziness hits Ten when he stands as all the blood rushes to his head. Johnny holds him by the shoulders to steady him, strong fingers digging into his flesh. Ten mumbles out a thanks, then lets Johnny guide him to the bed.

Johnny pulls down the blanket and climbs in first, still fully clothed. He holds the sheets up for Ten to climb in after him. Ten settles into his lap, in the perfect space between Johnny’s spread legs, and rests his naked back against Johnny’s warm chest, hugging the towel tighter around himself as the chill from the room starts to make his skin prickle.

It is all Ten can do to stay awake, his body warm and buzzing in Johnny’s familiar embrace. He must not do as good a job as he thinks because when he closes his eyes for just a moment, he blinks awake to find Jaehyun sitting at the foot of the bed, a thin trail of smoke curling up from his hand as a black and white movie on the TV frames his silhouette.

Ten watches though half-lidded eyes as Jaehyun takes a deep drag of whatever is in his hand. The volume on the TV is so low Ten is sure Jaehyun can’t hear it, and he doesn’t seem to be watching it, either.

Ten turns to look up at Johnny. Johnny’s eyes are closed. His head leans back against the headboard as he breathes quiet, slow breaths. Ten shifts in Johnny’s lap, careful not to wake him, and carefully scoots down to the foot of the bed to settle in beside Jaehyun.

Jaehyun looks over at him in mild surprise, letting his gaze fall momentarily to Ten’s bare chest before turning his attention back to the movie. His sharp profile seems softer in the gentle, flickering light of the television. On screen, a pretty woman with short hair falls into the arms of a handsome older man, clutching his shoulders as he holds her reassuringly by the waist.

Without turning from the screen, Jaehyun shrugs off his blazer and holds it out to Ten. Ten, so surprised by the tenderness of the gesture, just stares at the jacket blankly. “You must be cold. Just take it,” Jaehyun says. He drops the jacket onto Ten’s lap and lifts his hand to his mouth. The tip of the joint glows a faint orange when inhales, and the familiar musty, botanical smell hits Ten’s nose as Jaehyun breathes out, tilting back his head to exhale the smoke up into the air.

As the warmth from Johnny’s body fades, Ten realizes how cold the room really is – the hissing radiator in the corner seems to be doing nothing – and he pulls Jaehyun’s jacket over his shoulders and burrows his arms in the long sleeves. “Thank you,” he says, then moves a bit closer to Jaehyun. Still without taking his eyes from the screen, Jaehyun shifts slightly to the left to make more room for Ten. Finally, he turns to face Ten, and Ten’s heart drops into his stomach when their eyes meet.

Jaehyun lifts the joint in the space between them. Ten nods, and Jaehyun holds it up to his mouth. Jaehyun’s eyes are dark as he watches Ten’s lips close around it. Ten inhales, letting the smoke fill his mouth before breathing in again, expanding his lungs as much as he can. He holds his breath then exhales through his nose, already feeling the buzzing cloud-lightness settle into his tired bones and muscles.

At some point, Jaehyun had shifted so their faces are even closer together, close enough for Ten to smell the smoke on his breath. Ten still hasn’t gotten used to how handsome Jaehyun is; even though his face is pale and his eyes are red, framed by dark circles, his features seem otherworldly. Ten wonders if the high makes Jaehyun’s face look out of focus, or if he is just that handsome that Ten’s eyes can’t fully process it. Probably both.

After Ten takes another hit, Jaehyun lifts his hand to trace delicately over Ten’s slightly parted lips. His skin crackles and buzzes under the touch, his nerve endings dulled and yet somehow attuned to every minute sensation. When Jaehyun pulls his fingers away, Ten whines quietly. He needs to keep feeling something on his lips, so he closes the gap between their faces to press his mouth to Jaehyun’s.

Jaehyun’s mouth is warm, much warmer than the rest of his body, and his tongue tastes like snow and smoke. Ten’s mouth seems to move of its own accord, chasing the pleasure that hums under his skin and through his veins where their lips touch. Jaehyun slips his hands under Ten’s – his – jacket to press his palm onto Ten’s stomach, then winds around to hold tightly onto the small of his back.

At some point, Ten finds that he has slipped off the bed and onto the floor, followed closely by Jaehyun. Jaehyun pushes the blazer off Ten’s shoulders and grips him by the waist, holding him close as he licks into his mouth. The cheap carpet is rough on his bare legs, but he barely registers it, driven only by the desire to keep Jaehyun touching him as much as possible.

Ten helps Jaehyun unbutton his shirt with numb, uncoordinated fingers, then pulls Jaehyun back to his body, closer, so close that Jaehyun ends up on top of him with one leg firmly pressed between Ten’s thighs. Jaehyun presses him down into carpet, pushing his leg into Ten’s crotch until Ten lets out a whimper, muffled by Jaehyun’s mouth. He turns his head to bite at Jaehyun’s shoulder to stifle any more moans that slip out. Jaehyun hisses but doesn’t push him away, instead slipping a hand between them to undo his fly. Ten starts sucking a bruise into the muscle of Jaehyun’s neck as he pushes up his hips, chasing the friction.

He is ready for Jaehyun when Jaehyun nudges his boxers to the side and slips into him, wet only with spit, his muscles pliant and relaxed from the high that still runs through his body. Waves of pleasure course through him as Jaehyun pushes into him, raw and maddeningly slow. Ten tangles his hands through Jaehyun’s hair and rolls his hips, urging him to give him more. Jaehyun growls, the sound vibrating through his chest, then starts fucking into him faster, deeper, so deep Ten feels it in his toes, so good he doesn’t even notice the way the skin on his back rubs harshly against the rough fabric of the carpet every time Jaehyun thrusts. The carpet of the old motel room is probably filthy but Ten doesn’t care; with the way Jaehyun is making him feel, he would probably lick the floor if Jaehyun asked him to.

Ten’s aching arousal is trapped between their bodies, and Jaehyun’s muscular stomach rubs against it as he flexes. When Ten whines into Jaehyun’s neck, Jaehyun matches him with a deep groan of his own into the top of Ten’s head.

Ten comes first, shaking moans punched out of him as Jaehyun keeps fucking him through it, the warm wetness slicking up both their stomachs. Jaehyun braces his arm over Ten’s head and digs his nails into the flesh on his waist, huffing out hot breaths as he chases his own release. Jaehyun comes in him soon after, filling him up, holding firm onto Ten’s hips as Ten squirms under him. Jaehyun radiates heat above him, his chest flushed and slick. He finally pulls out after a long minute, and Ten winces as he does, feeling a bit breathless himself.

Jaehyun rolls off him and leans against the dresser next to the TV stand. He digs around in his pants pocket and pulls out a box of cigarettes and his lighter. He shakes one out and lights it, then holds it out to Ten, who barely musters enough energy to shake his head no. Ten is still in the same spot on the floor, body splayed out and legs shaking as he gazes blearily up at the dark ceiling.

The acrid scent of the cigarette smoke quickly fills the space between them, much stronger than the sweet, damp smell of the weed from earlier. Ten’s eyes catch on the smoke detector, blinking red in the far corner of the ceiling. He raises a weak arm to point at it. Jaehyun follows his hand and makes an exasperated noise. “Shit,” he mutters, then pulls himself to standing, stretching out his arms as he does. He zips up his fly, grabs his shirt off the floor, then slips out the front door. He leaves it open a crack, presumably to let some of the smoke out.

Ten lays on the floor for a long moment, letting some strength return to his shaking muscles. Gentle waves of pleasure still course through him, although the skin of his inner thighs stings, having been rubbed raw by the zipper of Jaehyun’s pants. 

Finally, he manages to stand, leaning on the bed for support. Johnny is still deep asleep on the bed, somehow not having woken up despite all of moaning and whimpering. Ten shuts off the TV and hobbles to the bathroom, feeling warmth trickle down his legs as he walks. He leaves the light off as he washes up with one of his towels from earlier, which is still damp but rougher than he remembers. He dresses quickly, pulls on his coat, and slips outside, pulling the door shut as he does.

The snow continues to fall, though miraculously not as heavily as it had been earlier. Most of the wind seems to have died down, too, so the night is quiet and still. Ten shivers, hugging his coat tighter around himself as he sinks down next to Jaehyun, who is sitting on the ground just below the window of their room, looking out at the parking lot below as he takes deep drags of his cigarette. He snuffs it out when he sees Ten and flicks the butt over the railing.

Ten isn’t sure how Jaehyun isn’t shivering, as he is dressed in only a shirt buttoned halfway up. They are protected from the falling snow by an overhang, but it is well below freezing. Somehow, Jaehyun seems completely unbothered, even though his cheeks and ears are bitten pink by the cold air. He rests his forearms on his bent knees, spinning his lighter idly between his long, pale fingers. Ten watches the movement, mesmerized by the spinning of the small cylinder of red plastic.

Jaehyun sighs, then slides the lighter into his pocket. Ten shifts closer to him until their bodies press together.

“Are you cold?” Jaehyun asks. Ten looks at him in surprise.

“Me? You’re the one sitting out in the snow half naked,” he says, shivering as though to emphasize his point.

“I’m alright,” Jaehyun says, still looking out at the snow-covered parking lot below them. “I run hot. Especially after sex.”

“Right,” Ten returns, unconvinced. “Anyway, um … how did it go? Your job?” He isn’t sure if it is the right thing to do, to bring it up, but his curiosity gets the better of him. At this, Jaehyun finally turns to look at him, his head still leaning against the wall behind them. A soft gust of wind sends a shower of flurries in their direction, under the overhang. 

He hums thoughtfully. “I got what I needed. Pictures, a recorded phone call, plate numbers, a few lipstick-stained shirt collars; the usual. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“So … who was he? Can I ask?” Ten ventures.

“You can ask,” Jaehyun responds, though he doesn’t continue. Ten pouts, pushing out his bottom lip and scrunching his eyebrows in an expression of mock sadness. Jaehyun rolls his eyes, and Ten thinks he imagines the barest hint of a smile on his lips. “Fine, but don’t go spreading this around. I have a reputation for discretion, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Promise,” Ten says. “I have no one to tell, anyway.”

“Fair,” Jaehyun agrees. “The man, he’s the husband of a famous businesswoman. They started a successful security company around twenty years ago and are fairly well known for having a very public, very committed marriage, all while running their company together as business partners. His wife knows Johnny personally from his days on the force, and she got in contact with me and him a few months ago. Said he’d been acting suspicious, coming home late and dodging her calls, but she wasn’t sure if it was marriage or business related. I’ve been tailing him since then, but – like I said – they run a security company, so he’s better at covering his tracks than most. The woman has been hounding me recently, saying I’ve been taking too long – actually, she was the client who came to my office when we were there together, some number of weeks ago.” Ten nods in sudden understanding as he remembers the client who had shown up at Jaehyun’s office at midnight, interrupting their heated moment together.

“Anyway, I got a tip from one of my contacts a few days ago, so I decided to pay the target a visit tonight. See if the lead would, well, lead anywhere. Which it did, luckily.”

Listening to Jaehyun’s story, Ten thinks of something. “The man – he’s one of our regulars. He’s been coming for years, probably, even before I started working there.” Jaehyun nods. “So …”

Jaehyun catches on. “That first night at the Ace – we were there for him. Just watching him, getting a sense of his behavior, who he talked to, what he was drinking. It also happened to be a nice spot for a date, incidentally. Pretty waiters, too. A bit timid, but pretty. Good with their mouths, from what I’ve heard.” Ten flushes, but Jaehyun continues without skipping a beat. “We were supposed to meet with the wife at the Plaza later to debrief, but like I told you, she flaked on us. Called to cancel our meeting, but she gave no reason. I actually have a contact on the hotel staff, and he said she was seen in the lobby earlier that night, just for an hour or so. She got a drink at the bar, made a few phone calls with the hotel payphone, then left. A little unusual, but that’s how rich people are. Paranoid. Anyway, I finally got the proof she wanted, so I’ll be done with the two of them after tonight. I’ll get my money, then it’s onto the next job.”

As fascinated as he is by the account, something still bugs Ten. “The – what about the blood from the other night?”

Jaehyun stares at him blankly for a moment, before understanding flashes across his face. Oddly, he laughs. “Oh, that. Just a false lead, gone wrong. I ran into some gangsters I knew from my old job. They weren’t too happy to see me, unfortunately.” Ten holds his breath, his silence a prompt for Jaehyun to continue, but Jaehyun just chuckles again and turns away, evidently done sharing. He seems more at ease than before, no longer fidgeting or playing with his hands.

Ten watches as a lone car drives down the highway, engine revving and headlights flashing momentarily before it drives away into the dark. He feels some movement beside him and turns to find that Jaehyun is trembling. “Jaehyun – ” Ten begins, looking up at him in concern.

“I know, I know, I’ll be fine,” Jaehyun grits out, his jaw clenched to stop his teeth from chattering. “Let’s go in.” Ten agrees and stands up, holding out a hand to help Jaehyun up. Jaehyun ignores it, of course, instead wiping the snow of his pants as he rises. He follows Ten back into the room and locks the door behind them. It takes a moment for Ten’s eyes to adjust to the low light, and as soon as they do, he sees Johnny sitting up in the bed, naked under the sheets, watching them. Johnny beckons wordlessly, and who is Ten to deny him? He drifts over to the bed, shedding his clothes as he goes, and climbs under the blanket next to Johnny, winding his limbs around Johnny’s warm body.

Jaehyun follows. Ten expects him to lay on Johnny’s other side, as he usually does, but Jaehyun instead curls his body around Ten’s, pressing his muscular chest into Ten’s back and holding him against Johnny. Ten shudders as Jaehyun’s breath ghosts over his neck. Ten presses his cheek to Johnny’s chest, feeling his heartbeat fast and steady below his ribcage. Against his back, he feels Jaehyun’s stomach rise and fall.

They are a tangle of legs and arms, hot skin, warm breaths. At that moment, Ten forgets they are in a cheap motel bed. He forgets he is shivering. He forgets it is winter, he forgets his hair is still slightly damp from the sink and the skin on his back is rubbed raw from the carpet. All that matters is the press of Jaehyun’s mouth on his neck, the huffing of Jaehyun’s smoky breaths in his ear, the caress of Johnny’s hands over his stomach, his thigh, the taste of Johnny on his lips, the sounds that vibrate through Johnny’s chest when Ten takes Johnny’s lower lip between his teeth. Johnny whispers something into his mouth, something that Ten can’t fully hear over the sound of Jaehyun sighing in his ear. Or maybe he hears it, but his mind can’t process the words. The words that sound oddly close to _I love you_ , but that can’t be right.

In that moment, nothing else matters. Even as the words vanish into the air of the room, gone as quickly as they had come, they fill Ten’s body with a warmth that won’t leave, settling somewhere deep into his subconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The erotic hair washing scene was heavily inspired by that video of Johnny washing Taeyong's hair in a sink, which I think about almost everyday but can't find anywhere.
> 
> Anywayyyy hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment, if you want to :) and happy New Years to all you lovely strangers 💚


	6. Dial Tone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi! Okay, so this started out as being a Jaeten-focused PWP interlude chapter, a la Chapter 2 (which is why it’s on the shorter side), but then it went some places … you’ll see. 
> 
> Also, if you’re subscribed, thank you but also sorry for spamming your inbox lmao 😈
> 
> (CW: mention of unhealthy/manipulative relationship dynamics – not between the main trio – and some negative self-feelings)
> 
> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)

* * *

The phone is ringing. _That’s odd_.

Ten frowns at the landline on the wall next to the clock. It stops ringing. He gets up off his bed, turns the space heater up to its highest setting, climbs back in bed, and picks up his book.

The phone starts ringing again. He honestly can’t remember the last time, if ever, he heard it ring. Up until this moment, he had thought that the phone wasn’t even connected; it was a relic from when he moved into the tiny studio apartment a year ago, and he had never bothered getting it set up. He had certainly never given anyone his number, and he wasn’t even sure he would know the number himself, if someone asked for it.

The sound is tinny and almost obscenely loud in the small apartment. He frowns at it again, then his curiosity gets the better of him. He rises from his bed and crosses to the wall where the landline is hanging. He looks around the room suspiciously, as though the caller would suddenly reveal him or herself from behind a piece of furniture, then picks up.

“ … Hello?” he says, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.

“What are you doing?”

Ten doesn’t recognize the voice, though the heavy static of the old phone line warps the sound so he is not sure he would recognize the voice even if he knew who was calling. 

“Um, I think you have the wrong number, sorry,” Ten replies. After an extended silence, during which he lifts the phone from his face and looks to make sure it is still working, the voice on the other end comes through again.

“No, this is the right number.” Ten’s heart starts pounding. There is nothing inherently threatening about the caller’s tone, but his words make the skin on the back of Ten’s neck prickle. He glances nervously around the room again, tempted to just hang up. Just as he is about to place the receiver back on the wall mount, as though reading his mind, the caller speaks again. “Ten, don’t hang up.”

Ten nearly drops the phone from how badly his hand is shaking. “Who is this?” he demands.

“It’s Jaehyun. Don’t hang up.” Ten stares at the phone, bewildered.

“ … Jaehyun?” he squeaks, hands still shaking and heart still pounding wildly. “How – why are you calling me? How did you even get this number?”

“Your landlord has all the tenants’ numbers in a book in his office. Every apartment has one, they’re all part of a closed-circuit phone system he set up. It’s pretty clever, actually,” Jaehyun says matter-of-factly. Ten’s brain struggles to keep up with the direction of this conversation.

“Really? Wait … how do you know that? Jaehyun, did you break into my landlord’s office?” Ten asks. Given his knowledge of Jaehyun’s particular expertise, it is entirely within the realm of possibilities that Jaehyun had broken into his apartment building and stolen the book of phone numbers from his landlord’s desk.

Even over the phone, Ten can almost hear Jaehyun roll his eyes. “No, I didn’t break into his office, he let me in. You’re not doing anything right now, I assume?” Ten stares at the phone in his hand blankly.

“Closed-circuit …” Ten says, dazed, as the realization hits him. “You’re in the building?” He glances around the room again.

“I’m using the phone in the lobby,” Jaehyun says.

Ten blinks. “Oh – why?”

“I was the in the area,” Jaehyun says, as though that explains it.

“Do – do you want to come up?” Ten asks, his heart pounding in his throat as he says it.

“Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Jaehyun replies, and it sounds like he is smiling. Before Ten can wrap his head around what Jaehyun means, Jaehyun speaks again. “What are you wearing?”

_Oh._ Ten closes his eyes and tries to control his breathing. Jaehyun’s voice had suddenly adopted a tone that makes Ten’s face heat up and his heart race, even through the static of the phone line.

“I’m – nothing special, just a shirt and pajama pants. I was just reading in bed,” Ten says honestly, looking down at his old thermal shirt and flannel bottoms.

Jaehyun hums into the phone, the crackling sound making Ten’s neck tingle. “If I were up there with you, you know what I would do?”

“What?” Ten whispers hoarsely. He swallows as he waits for Jaehyun to speak.

Although the hour is late, the residents of the building tend to come and go at odd hours. Jaehyun’s voice lowers, but surely not low enough that someone walking through the lobby wouldn’t be able to hear him. “I’d tear those clothes right off you and push you up against the wall. Bite your neck and touch you until you were trembling and moaning my name in my ear.” 

Still holding the phone, Ten sinks to the floor, his back pressed up against the wall. The cord tangles in his fingers. He is sure Jaehyun must be able to hear his unsteady, shaking breaths through the phone.

“You know what I’d do next?”

Ten has no coherent response other than to make a quiet, breathy noise into the receiver, hoping Jaehyun had heard it. Already so turned on it almost hurt, Ten presses his hand between his legs to relieve some of the pressure.

“I’d touch you more. Slide my fingers in and hold them still so you could fuck yourself on my hand. Let you make yourself feel good for me. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

_God_ , he would _love_ that. He wants it so badly, so suddenly, that his head starts spinning. He bites his lip and imagines the feeling of Jaehyun inside him, gasping as his palm hits a sensitive spot on his aching dick.

“Answer me.”

“Yes,” Ten whines, desperate for Jaehyun to keep talking. “Please.”

“I knew you would,” Jaehyun murmurs. “You want everything I give you, don’t you? Well, we’ll have to see if you deserve it first. Only good boys get good things.”

Ten can’t help it; he slips a hand under his flannel pants and grips himself, already so hard he is dripping. A moan slips out, and Jaehyun lets out a laugh in his ear, low and dangerous.

“Are you touching yourself already? You’re so needy.” Ten throws his head back against the wall and stifles another moan as he slips his hand lower, between his thighs, imagining it to be Jaehyun’s hand instead of his own. His whole body is flushed, waves of heat pulsing through him as he presses into himself.

“I’d make you scream so loud your neighbors would complain. But you wouldn’t care, would you? Because you’re a needy little – oh, hello!” Jaehyun’s tone suddenly changes from deep and sultry, dripping with dominance, to all-business, cheery in a way that Ten has never heard Jaehyun sound before.

Ten wrenches open his eyes, heart pounding, his fingers frozen inside himself. Over the phone, he hears the muffled voice of someone else speaking. Jaehyun responds. “Yes, thank you so much, again.” The other person says something and laughs, and Jaehyun laughs in response. It couldn’t sound more fake.

“I’m glad the number worked, too. I’m on the phone with him now, actually. Let’s just hope the next time he tries to skip out on a court date, it doesn’t take this long to track him down.” Ten’s head spins. Could that be … his landlord? _Shit_. The other voice, which Ten is now almost certain belongs to his landlord, comes through again. “Alright, you have a good night too,” Jaehyun responds. His tone switches on a dime when he all but growls into the phone. “Keep touching yourself.”

Ten, heart still pounding out of his chest, moves to oblige, but Jaehyun’s tone changes _again_ , when he calls out, “say, do you have a light? I’m dying for a smoke, this weaselly motherfucker’s driving me up a wall.” Ten hears his landlord laugh again, this time closer to the receiver. Then comes a metallic clicking sound – the lighter, presumably – and the voice that is definitely his landlord says, clearly audible this time, “I’ll be in the back room if you need anything, officer. Have a good one.”

“Officer?” Ten repeats after a moment, unable to help himself.

“So what?” Jaehyun says with a low chuckle. He pauses and Ten hears him inhale and exhale deeply, presumably taking a hit of whatever it is he is smoking. “Old straight men love cops. I keep my old badge on hand just in case.”

Jaehyun takes another loud drag, then hums. “Where were we?”

Ten blushes when he realizes the absurdity of the position he is in – his forearm disappearing into the waistband of his pajama pants, fingers still lodged deep inside himself while Jaehyun smokes in the very public lobby twelve floors below where anyone could walk by and hear him.

“Um - ”

“Oh, that’s right, I was telling you how loud I’d make you moan. All from just my hands, too.” And with that, Ten forgets all about his landlord.

“Are you still dressed?” Jaehyun asks.

Ten takes a shuddering breath, then responds, “y-yes, is that a problem?”

Jaehyun makes a noise in his ear. “I’d call that a problem, yes. Take your pants off.” Ten quickly sets the phone on the floor and pulls his fingers out with a wince, then kicks off his pants and underwear. He hesitates, then peels off his shirt. He barely registers the chill of the room, although he now sits fully exposed on the cold wooden floorboards of his apartment. He grabs the phone and presses it back to his ear with shaking hands.

“Now what?” he asks, already trembling in anticipation.

“What, you want me to do all the work? As much as I love getting you flustered, darling, I think you can pitch in a little, too. Tell me what you’re doing.”

Ten swallows. “Like, how I’m touching myself?”

Jaehyun breathes out, his tone growing impatient. “Sure. Surprise me.”

Ten looks around his apartment. It is empty except for himself, of course, but he still lowers his voice when he says, “well, I’m – I’m on the floor.” He waits for a response, but all he hears is Jaehyun’s heavy breathing, so he continues. “I was touching myself, f-fingering myself, thinking about you, and – ”

Jaehyun cuts in. “How many fingers?”

“Two,” Ten replies. Jaehyun groans deeply in his ear, and Ten’s face heats up. Anyone could walk by and hear him, including his landlord, but Jaehyun seems shameless. Ten tries to picture him – sitting in the old armchair by the phone in the lobby, face flushed, growing hard in his slacks. The image is perverse, but Ten can’t deny the way his cock throbs at the thought. 

“I’m sitting against the wall, fingering myself. Imagining you holding me against it, pushing into me.” He grows bold. “You’d feel so good,” his voice cracking as he says it, gasping as a wave of pleasure hits him. He shifts positions to raise himself onto his knees, then sinks back down onto his hand, whimpering as the angle pushes his fingers deeper inside himself. “Now I’m – ” he moans again. “On my knees, sitting on my hand. God, you’d feel so good,” he repeats, almost forgetting that Jaehyun is on the other end of the line as he stutters his hand.

“Are you close?” Jaehyun growls, the sound vibrating throughout Ten’s entire body and making his hair stand on end.

Ten whines in response. His wrist hurts and his knees will probably bruise, but he doesn’t care. He also desperately wants to stroke himself with his other hand, but it is still occupied by holding the phone. He fumbles the old phone in his hand to look at it, but there doesn’t seem to be an option for putting it on speaker.

His thighs are shaking, his whole body flushed and pink with pleasure. He sinks down onto his hand and moves in slow, grinding movements, his legs shaking too much to be able to raise himself anymore. “God, you sound so hot,” Jaehyun murmurs as Ten mewls when he finds a perfect angle. “You’re so greedy, I bet you wish Johnny were there to take care of you.”

_Oh god, Johnny_. Ten is hit with a sudden image – Johnny walking into his apartment while Ten sits splayed out on the floor, Johnny seeing him fucking himself desperately on his hand, Johnny caressing his cheek and reassuring him before bending him over and giving it to him deep, pressing his face into the cold wooden floor as he whispers sweet words in his ear.

Before he realizes it, Ten is coming untouched, so hard it spills onto his thighs and drips onto the floorboards. He gasps for air, trembling and seeing stars, still somehow managing to hold the phone to his ear. He cries out again as his body tenses and a second wave hits him, and he all but collapses on the floor, letting his fingers slip out. He drops the phone and lays back on the floor, eyes closed as his head pounds. Absently, he runs his hand over his body, down his chest and over his hip and thigh, and his skin buzzes where he touches it.

Ten jumps when Jaehyun’s voice crackles through the phone on the floor. He sits up and scrambles to find it, holding it up to his ear breathlessly. “Hello?” he says, his voice still shaking.

Jaehyun takes a moment to speak. “I said, did you come?”

Ten’s face burns as he looks down at the mess on his legs. “Yes,” he whispers. “Did … did you?”

Jaehyun scoffs into the phone. “Ten, I’m in a public place. Anyone could see me.” Ten doesn’t bother trying to remind him that anyone could _hear_ him, too. He knows Jaehyun is just toying with him. 

When Jaehyun doesn’t continue, Ten stares at the phone in his hand. “ … Hello?” he repeats, certain that Jaehyun either had or was about to hang up on him.

“Yes, Ten, I’m still here,” Jaehyun responds. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. Actually … do you have panties?” Ten’s face flushes, but before he can respond, Jaehyun continues. “Never mind, we’ll save that for another time.”

Ten’s spent cock twitches against his leg, so he pushes the image out of his mind for now. What he has stashed in a box at the back of his closet can go unmentioned for now. “Jaehyun, are – are you going to come up? Don’t you want to, you know …”

He hears Jaehyun take a drag and exhale, the sound crackling out of the receiver. “If I wanted to come up and fuck you, don’t you think I would have done that by now?”

“I guess so,” Ten mutters, shifting so his back is pressed up against the wall again. “So … why are you really here? Did Johnny put you up to this?”

“No, darling, Johnny doesn’t know I’m here. Like I said, I was in the area. And I love making you flustered, it’s just too much fun. And now that I’m all hot and bothered, I was thinking I would head home and see if Johnny would be up for letting me fuck him.”

Ten’s head spins as he is hit with a sudden image – Jaehyun trying to pin Johnny down, their muscles flexing as their strong bodies grapple for dominance. “You – you’re going to fuck Johnny?”

Jaehyun laughs. “Yes. I mean, Johnny gives dick like it’s his job, but we do like to switch things up, sometimes. If I’m in the right headspace. Before Johnny, I was usually always the one in charge. But something about him … it just makes me want to lose control. Give up control. Let him take care of me. You, on the other hand - ” (Ten bites his lip and tries to swallow down the involuntary flash of arousal that courses through him) “- you bring out something else in me. I just love making you squirm.” 

“I’ve noticed,” Ten mutters under his breath, though he can’t deny that he loves it.

He toys with the cord as another thought comes to him, one that has been sitting in the corner of his mind for a while, but he never got the nerve to verbalize. With the distance of twelve floors separating them, though, the thought bubbles to the surface. If Jaehyun were in front of him, he is not sure he would have the strength to ask, so he steels himself. “So … can I ask you something?”

“If you want.”

Ten gulps, his tongue like dry sandpaper in his mouth. He knows he really has no reason to be nervous, but he can’t help it. “Was there ever anyone … have you and Johnny ever had, you know, another – ” _Another what? Lover? Boyfriend? Plaything? What is he to them, really?_ “ – another person in your relationship? Someone like me?”

Jaehyun is silent for a long moment, long enough for Ten to start regret asking. Finally, he speaks. “Oh, there’s no one like you, darling.” He laughs softly, and Ten can’t tell if he is teasing or not. He does know that Jaehyun’s words make his stomach flip.

“I know what you’re asking. There was someone, once. Right after we left the force. It happened just one time, the three of us together. He was – not what we thought he was, let’s just say that. He was beautiful, but he wanted nothing to do with our relationship. He only wanted Johnny.” Ten can taste the bitterness in Jaehyun’s voice.

“To be honest with you, after our night together, he treated me like a piece of shit that he found on the bottom of his shoe. Kept trying to snake his way between us, get Johnny alone. The way Johnny treats people, the way he talks to them – he makes them feel special, like they are the only person who matters in the world. I guess some people just take it a bit too far.”

Ten hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath. Anger swells up inside him at the thought of someone treating Jaehyun and Johnny – or anyone – like that. But then, the other feeling that had been growing inside him rises in his throat like bile, that dark, slimy feeling that grips his heart sometimes when he lays awake at night.

Guilt. The guilt that he had somehow been doing exactly what Jaehyun had just described – worming his way into their relationship, picking apart at its foundations, just a worthless interloper clawing desperately at the gates of something beautiful, something he didn’t deserve. Something he would never in a million years be worthy of.

Jaehyun continues. “Some people think they can take advantage of Johnny’s generosity. Think that he’s so nice, they can walk all over him and come out the other side unscathed and with everything they want. But let me tell you, you do not want to make Johnny mad. I mean, really, truly mad. He even scared me, honestly. As soon as he caught wind of what was happening, the way that man was treating me, he dealt with it.”

Ten doesn’t even want to ask how Johnny “dealt with it.” The dark, strained tone of Jaehyun’s voice says as much as he wants to know.

“So, it’s just been us since then. The two of us. Until you, of course.” Ten looks at the phone cord in his hand and realizes that he is still trembling. He sits on his hand to steady it, then takes a slow, calming breath. He doesn’t know what to say, but he feels like he has to say something.

“Jaehyun, you know I’d never – ”

“Don’t say it,” Jaehyun cuts him off. “Don’t say it.” The resulting silence is heavy. Eventually, Jaehyun speaks again, his tone surprisingly soft. “Don’t say it. Do you really think that, after what we went through the first time, we would just let just anyone in? That we wouldn’t talk about it, what it would mean? Of course we did.”

“You talked about me?” Ten says hoarsely.

“Of course we did,” Jaehyun says again. “After you left, after our first night together in the hotel. For hours, probably. In all honesty, I first thought you were just kind of a timid little bitch. I trusted that we could have you for one night because it seemed like you would never have the nerve to do what that other snake did.” Jaehyun clears his throat, then Ten hears a lighter clicking.

“But Johnny, he – he saw something in you. Something special, something precious. Those were his words,” Jaehyun clarifies. “And I trust Johnny with my life. I figured that if he saw something in you, maybe you were worth keeping around. If nothing else, you’d be a bit of fun,” Jaehyun adds at the end, his tone imbued with a studied lightness. Ten holds his breath, as though any sound would make Jaehyun skitter and stop talking.

“When he sent me to pick you up that night, the night we went to my office – I didn’t really have anything to get for him. I just grabbed a random folder from my cabinet. He knew how suspicious I was – I am – which makes me a great P.I., but an awful boyfriend sometimes. So, he said that, if I spent time with you and still had any kind of doubts, I could just drive you home, and that would be that. We would never go back to the Ace of Hearts; we would never talk about it again. But, if not, then I could bring you back to our home, and he would know what meant.”

“ … And what would that mean?” Ten says, his heart pounding in his ears. A feeling suspiciously close to hope had started bubbling up in his chest, try as he might to ignore it.

“That it was real. That what we felt with you – what we felt for you – was real.”

Ten closes his eyes to stop the room from spinning. He must still be high from that night at the motel. Or maybe he is dreaming, maybe the fumes from his space heater had boiled his brain and were making him hear things.

“What you felt …” he repeats quietly, dazed, the words slipping from his mouth like sand. In the silence, the clock above him ticks. The faint sound of a car alarm from outside, which he hadn’t even noticed until that moment, shuts off.

Jaehyun clears his throat. “I should go,” he says, his tone unreadable. “If I’m gone any longer, Johnny might not let me fuck him, after all.”

Ten’s words catch in his throat so he nods, forgetting that Jaehyun can’t see him. Before he has a chance to say goodbye, to find his voice and say anything at all, the line disconnects and Ten is left alone with nothing but his thoughts and the dial tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has big quarantine vibes, doesn’t it? Lol *cries* 
> 
> But, Jaeten! Sorry it got kind of angsty at the end, was totally not planning on that happening and especially not them having that conversation right after having steamy semi-public phone sex (FYI I have literally no plan or outline when I write anything it’s literally like, start at the first word, stop at the last word, then hit publish @_@) I just couldn’t stop the feelings train from rolling into the station. 
> 
> n e waze happy new year, again! (Unless I publish something else before new year’s which I highly doubt but u never know :P) 
> 
> – OG <3


	7. Baby Bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of 1/5/21, [This fic now has a playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SozLZ1xXVADle5fue5mEm?si=FPfKrSG2ScqX9zcDgWFs1w)
> 
> a/n 1/22 - hi hi it's OG! if you're reading this, i'm not dead just suddenly very very busy. please bear with me while i attempt to find the time to pull the next/(possibly final?) chapter out of my brain ^^ ily <3 - on hiatus until march

Ten holds the door for Shuhua as she steps around him, out of the door and into the alleyway beside the club. Clutching each other for warmth, they set off down the street towards the bus stop, carefully side-stepping the sheets of black ice that have grown like pockmarks around the city streets. The night is clear and cold, the wind slicing bitterly at the exposed skin on their faces and wrists.

They make it the few blocks to the bus stop without incident, then stand, shivering, under the open awning. Shuhua’s hands find his pockets and nestle themselves deep inside. Laughing, his breath puffing out of his mouth in icy clouds, Ten wraps her up in his arms and squeezes playfully. 

“I hate it here,” she whines into his shoulder, the sound muffled by his jacket. “Why do we live in this horrible city? Let’s move to the Bahamas and get a job at one of those giant resorts on the beach. Then I can look at girls in bikinis all day instead of old men who stink like cigars.”

“Come on, it’s not so bad,” he says, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. She pulls back just enough to make a face at him, and he laughs again.

“Of course, you would say that. You have two huge men to sandwich yourself between when you get cold.” She pulls her red lips into a pout. “I’m all alone, and my building always smells like tripe from the restaurant downstairs.”

“You love tripe,” Ten says, ignoring the sharp pounding in his chest at the mention of the two men in question.

“Yeah, but I don’t need to smell it all the time. It makes me hungry. And I get lonely when I’m hungry.” She pulls away from him and hugs her coat around herself instead, rolling back and forth on the balls of her feet.

The bus finally pulls up to the stop. They pay and settle into their usual seats in the back; aside from them, there are only two other people on the bus. As Shuhua fidgets next to him, breathing hot onto her hands for warmth, Ten stares at his reflection in the window. His face is warped by the reflection of the old plastic, flashing in and out as they drive past streetlamps and neon signs.

“How are they, anyway?”

“Hm?” Ten says, pulling his eyes from the window. "Who?"

She raises her eyebrows at him. “Who do you think?”

He opens his mouth, then – unsure how to answer – sighs. “They’re good,” he says finally. She watches his face carefully.

“And you?”

Again, he is unsure how to answer. He should be good. He should be great. Jaehyun’s words on the phone had comforted Ten with the knowledge that he and Johnny felt – felt something for him. And yet.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly, his voice quiet. “I don’t know.” He looks down at his hand and tugs at a piece of loose skin on his thumb.

She nods slowly. “You know what Johnny said to me?”

Ten looks up at her in surprise. “When?”

“In the car. You know what he said? He told me to hold onto you and never let you go.”

Ten feels the wind knocked out of his lungs. All he can do is stare at Shuhua, who looks right back, her big eyes unwavering. “I don’t know what you think is going on, or what’s going on inside your head, but they – that man cares about you. A lot.”

With that, she turns away from him and starts digging around in her bag. She pulls out a small mirror and makeup tissues and begins wiping off the cherry red from her lips.

A sharp feeling tightens in his gut, tugs at his heart. _Hold onto you and never let you go._

Ten rests his head on the window, even as it rattles his skull on every bump, until the bus pulls up in front of Shuhua’s stop. She stashes away her belongings, grabs the pole, and pulls herself to standing. As she always does, she leans down to plant a (thankfully lipstick-free) kiss on his cheek. Before pulling away, she hesitates, then lowers her lips to his ear. “Remember what I told you, okay?” she whispers, then swings out of the door. As the bus drives away, he watches her make her careful way down the street towards an ancient dim sum parlor, above which sits her apartment.

Ten’s head is spinning the entire walk from the bus stop to his building. When he enters, his heart pounds as he walks through the lobby, past the small cluster of chairs arranged around a low coffee table. For the past few weeks, each time he has walked through the lobby, he has imagined Jaehyun sitting there, holding the phone up to his ear and filling the lobby with smoke, as though waiting for Ten. Yet, the cluster of chairs is always unoccupied.

His apartment is empty as it always is, but it feels emptier than usual tonight. He can’t get comfortable in bed, keeps flipping the pillow and kicking at the blanket, alternating between too hot and too cold. He bunches up the blanket on either side of him, imagining it to be two bodies pressing into him.

Breathing heavily, he is hit with a sudden urge. He can’t name it – the urge doesn’t have a face. It grows insistently, though, starting in his gut, pulsing, and spreading through his stomach, up to his chest. Placing a pillow between his legs doesn’t alleviate the urge; instead, it only seems to make it stronger, drawing more attention to the absence therein.

He flips onto his stomach and tries to will his breathing to slow, takes deep inhales through his nose and scrunches his eyes shut. The buzzing of the heater in the corner seems to grow louder, and he pulls the blanket over his head, biting the pillow just to feel something in his mouth.

Unable to bear it any more, he slides out from under the blanket and sits on the edge of the bed, staring at the clock on the wall.

It would be silly to go now. It is well past midnight, and the last bus stops running at one in the morning. It’s not really safe to walk around by himself this late at night, either, especially not with the streets as empty as they are now. Besides, they would probably be asleep, or out.

And yet – the urge crawls its way down his body like a vine, spreads through the soles of his feet and makes him stand. It wills him to get dressed again, to take his wallet and bus pass off the table, shut off the lights of his apartment, ride the elevator all twelve floors down, and walk out into the cold, dark night back towards the bus stop.

He waits all of fifteen minutes for the last bus uptown, then climbs on and folds himself into the seat closest to the driver. The ride is longer than he remembers; by the time they pull up to the last stop, Ten is jittery, nearly jumping out of his seat.

He walks past the correct building twice, both from his nerves and the fact that the buildings in this neighborhood are all identical. The lobby door is locked, no sign of the doorman, but the garage entrance around the back of the building is open. He rides the familiar elevator nearly to the top floor and steps out into the corridor.

He walks up to the grey door at the end of the hall and hesitates for only a moment before knocking. The sound is loud in the empty hallway, seeming to echo off every surface. He knocks again, if only to hear something other than the pounding of his own heartbeat in the near silence.

Just as he raises his fist to knock again, the door swings open. Johnny stands in the doorway, blinking out into the dark hall. His hair is pushed back, his shirt unbuttoned all the way, the low light from the room behind him casting soft shadows on his face.

“Ten?” he says, looking down at him, confused.

Driven by the urge that had brought him all the way here in the middle of the night, that urge with an unidentifiable name, Ten pushes his way past the threshold and presses his hands into Johnny’s chest. Surprised, Johnny stumbles backwards and lets the door swing closed behind them as Ten wraps his arms around Johnny’s shoulders and pulls them closer, standing on his tiptoes to nose into the strong, warm muscle of Johnny’s neck. His movements are frantic and directionless as he pants into Johnny’s skin and gropes desperately at his neck and shoulders, willing their bodies even closer, digging his fingers into Johnny’s skin as though Johnny would slip away from him.

“Hey,” Johnny whispers soothingly, petting gently over Ten’s lower back and resting his hands on his hips. When Ten tries to push Johnny back against the wall, nearly tripping over himself as he does, Johnny tightens his grip on Ten’s hips only to ease him backwards, separating their bodies by a matter of maddening inches. “Hey,” Johnny says again, more urgently, pulling his head back to search Ten’s face as Ten tries fruitlessly to close the gap between them. “Ten, what’s wrong?”

As he stares up into Johnny’s eyes, those eyes that drew him in and never let him go, a tight feeling coils in his stomach and spreads its way up, up through his chest and into his throat, up higher, until it blurs his vision. “I just need – ” he says, voice catching in his throat as he tries to ignore the pounding behind his eyes. “I need you,” he finishes, voice barely more than a whisper. Johnny is silent for a long moment, just holding Ten by the hips as he continues looking down at him. Ten wishes he would say something, anything, anything to quiet the stormy thoughts in his mind, to soothe the pit in his stomach. In the low light of the apartment hallway, his expression is hard to read; it seems to flash between concern and something else Ten can’t decipher.

But Johnny doesn’t say anything. Instead, he pulls Ten into himself and cradles his head against his chest with one hand, winding his other arm around his waist and holding him steady. Ten’s cheek is pressed up against Johnny’s heart, which pounds fast beneath his ribcage, and the skin between them grows wet and salty. Johnny is whispering something into the top of his head, pressing his face into Ten’s hair. Ten realizes he is still trembling from the cold and something else, his breaths falling out of him ragged and short, even as Johnny’s strong hands hold him close.

Ten lets his hands fall to his sides as Johnny holds him up, rocks him gently, runs his hands up and down his back. Then, Johnny stills, just holds him tight against his body, warm and sturdy and endless. Ten’s breathing finally slows; his body finally stops shaking. The pounding behind his eyes softens to no more than a dull throb, echoing the rhythmic pulsing from inside Johnny’s chest.

Johnny lifts a hand and gently pulls Ten’s face away from him. He strokes over his cheek with his thumb and pushes a loose strand of hair behind his ear. Then, Johnny smiles, and the tight feeling in Ten’s stomach uncoils itself and shrinks back into the dark corners of his gut.

“I’m doing some work right now,” Johnny says, continuing to pet his hand delicately through Ten’s hair. “Come and lay down until I finish.”

Ten nods, not sure he would be able to find his voice if he tried, and lets himself be pulled into the bedroom down the hall.

The bed is made, no sign of Jaehyun (Ten has learned to stop asking where Jaehyun is, especially during hours as late as these). A small folding desk that Ten has never noticed before is set up in front of the armchair in the corner of the room, with a stack of folders, papers, and a fountain pen neatly arranged on top. A desk lamp on the dresser is the only light in the room, save for the soft silver glow from the half-moon outside.

When they enter, Johnny walks to the bed and folds down the blanket on his side of the mattress, picking up a throw pillow and tossing it to the foot of the bed. “Here,” he says gently, lifting the blanket for Ten. Ten isn’t tired, not really, but he toes off his shoes and slips under the blanket anyway. Johnny presses his lips to his forehead, lets it linger just long enough to pull a small sigh out of Ten, then straightens up and walks over to the armchair, where he sinks down and picks up the fountain pen and one of the folders. 

The scratching of the pen is the only sound in the quiet room. Ten stares at the ceiling, but he can’t help his eyes from drifting over to Johnny in the corner. Johnny’s legs are crossed beneath the desk. His open shirt frames his broad chest, illuminated by the soft orange glow of the lamp beside him. As Ten watches Johnny work, he feels the urge simmering in his chest again. He closes his eyes and breathes out, in, out, trying to control it. When he slides his eyes open again, he finds Johnny staring at him.

His stomach flips. Even with the distance between the bed and the corner where Johnny sits, and even in the dim, orange light of the room, Johnny’s gaze hits him like an eighteen-wheeler would hit a deer on the highway. His gut clenches, his breath quickens. Johnny doesn’t look away; he continues toying with the pen in his hand, spinning it idly between his long fingers.

Ten swallows and shuts his eyes again. When he peeks out through one eye, Johnny is back to his writing as though nothing had happened.

The room is too quiet. So quiet that Ten is starting to become self-conscious of his breathing, sure that Johnny would be able to hear it from his spot in the corner of the room. He twitches his feet under the blanket, feeling suddenly hot with its weight pressing on him, uncomfortable in his street clothes. He sneaks another glance at Johnny, who is still craning his neck over his papers with his pen halfway to his mouth, then slips out from under the blanket.

He pads over to the closet next to the bed and opens one of the doors, running his hands over the clothes inside. Ten recognizes Johnny’s suits on the left side of the closet, the dark grey and pinstripes of which he is so fond, with his shirts and a few sweaters hung up just beside them. He traces his fingers over a crisp white dress shirt, pulling the fabric of the sleeve between his fingers and rubbing it together. Almost without thinking, he lifts the sleeve to his nose and breathes in. It smells sharp and powdery – starch, most likely – with the faint chemical smell of the dry cleaners, and something else underneath, something musky and human. Johnny’s smell.

Certain he feels Johnny’s gaze burning into his back, Ten starts undressing. He peels off his sweater and undershirt then his pants, kicking them into a pile by his feet. He undoes the buttons of Johnny’s white shirt and slips it off its hanger, then slips his right arm into the sleeve, which falls several inches below his hand. He pulls the other sleeve on and tugs at the hem so the shirt fits onto his frame as best it can, though it falls well below mid-thigh, the fabric cold and smooth on his naked skin. He fastens just one button above his navel; then, heart pounding, he slips out of his briefs and turns around.

Johnny is looking. Observing. His gaze is dark, eyes sweeping up Ten’s body, from his bare legs to the exposed skin on his navel and sternum; his neck; his shoulders; his face, flushed pink, as he looks back at Johnny.

Johnny breathes out a sound from deep in his chest. He sets down his pen, pushes the desk roughly to the side, uncrosses his legs, and lets his hands rest on the armrests of the chair. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t call Ten over, but he doesn’t need to. Ten hugs the shirt around himself and drifts over to the corner of the room. Just being close to Johnny like this makes his whole body heat up, makes desire pool heavy in his gut.

Johnny shifts his legs farther apart, and Ten, heart racing, positions himself in the space between them. He sees Johnny’s hands twitch on the armrests, though he keeps them in place. Johnny looks up at him, continuing to let his gaze rove indulgently over Ten’s body as he stands in front of him. Finally, Johnny lifts one arm and pulls gently at Ten’s hands, which are clasped over his stomach. Swallowing drily, Ten releases his hands and lets them hang loosely at his sides. With the same hand, Johnny tugs at one of Ten’s shirtsleeves until the fabric slides down his arm, revealing his shoulder and clavicle.

“What are you doing, baby?” Johnny asks, his voice low. “What are you doing to me?”

“I told you – I need you,” Ten whispers back. It’s not really an answer, but it’s all he can think to say – he just needs Johnny to hear it. He rolls his shoulders, causing the fabric to slip lower down his arm. Johnny follows the movement hungrily. He seems to be making up his mind about something, then –

“Turn around for me.”

Ten nods and turns quickly, then gasps in surprise when Johnny grips his waist and pulls him back onto his lap. Immediately, Johnny is breathing hot over his neck, and Ten instinctively leans his head to the side, baring his skin for Johnny. Johnny winds an arm around his waist and pulls him snug against his lap, tight enough for Ten to feel his arousal, hot and solid, trapped tight in his pants. He whines and pushes back into Johnny, breathing fast as Johnny sucks a bruise into his neck. He tries to squirm, tries to roll his hips, but Johnny’s powerful grip holds him still.

Johnny noses lower down his neck, mouthing hot kisses into the skin on his shoulder. Ten never knew he was sensitive there, but when Johnny presses with his lips and scrapes gently with his teeth, the sudden pleasure of it has him gasping and shuddering.

Johnny pulls at the shirt until it slips off both Ten’s shoulders to pool at his hips. Johnny grips his waist and slides his hands up his back and over his shoulders, down his arms then over his stomach, Ten’s muscles tensing reflexively at the touch. He closes his eyes and breathes out hot and shaking, letting his head fall back onto Johnny’s shoulder to steady himself. Johnny pets through his hair, licks at the metal in his ears, presses hot kisses onto his eyebrow, his cheek, the side of his nose, the corner of his open mouth, down to his jaw.

Unable to help himself, Ten grabs Johnny’s hand and places it on his bare leg, pushing down so Johnny’s hand slips lower, between his thighs. He whimpers and clamps his legs shut, finally able to grind back into Johnny’s lap with Johnny occupied. Johnny responds immediately, groaning in Ten’s ear and slipping his hand lower. His whole body is blazing hot and solid against Ten’s back, the muscles on his broad chest shifting and flexing with every movement, and it drives Ten crazy with want. “Johnny,” he whines, not even knowing what he wants, just needing to feel Johnny’s name in his mouth.

“Hey,” Johnny whispers reassuringly in Ten's ear between panting breaths, sending full-body tingles rippling through him. “Hey, I got you, baby. Whatever you need, I’ll give you – you know that, right?” Ten cries out and nods frantically when Johnny presses a wet finger into him – _when did he get it wet?_ \- and curls it up, cupping his balls with his palm. “I’ll give it to you how you want it. What do you want, baby?”

Johnny really expects him to piece together a coherent sentence? “You – I need you,” he says, as though he could possibly have any other answer, moaning out high and shaking when Johnny presses in another finger alongside the first.

“Of course,” Johnny murmurs into his ear, curling his fingers and pressing in deeper. Ten grinds himself back against Johnny’s hand, arching his back, his mouth falling open around gasps of pleasure. “But you have to get up,” he says, squeezing Ten’s hip with his other hand. “Okay?” Reluctantly, Ten nods and raises himself off Johnny’s lap, hissing as Johnny slowly pulls out his fingers. Johnny’s shirt, now rumpled, still hangs off his elbows. He holds it around his waist, some semblance of modesty despite the constellation of dark bruises now decorating his neck and shoulders. 

He walks as fast as his shaking legs can carry him to the nightstand beside the bed, where he knows the small bottle of lube is kept. He fishes it out and stumbles back to the chair, almost tripping over his own feet with the look Johnny gives him, lust written plainly on his face. He presses the bottle into Johnny’s hand and falls back onto his lap in the same position as before, straddling his spread legs, but shifting forward slightly to give Johnny room. He holds himself up with his hands, one on each of Johnny’s knees, as he twists around to watch.

Ten can hardly control himself as he watches Johnny palm himself over his pants, pressing firmly with the heel of his hand. Chest heaving, Johnny undoes the top button of his pants and zips down the fly. With a deep sigh, Johnny pulls his cock free from his briefs and grips the base, running his thumb up the underside. Ten bites back a moan at the sight of Johnny squeezing out a sizable amount of lube onto his hand and rubbing it over his bare cock, filling up the space between them with wet, slick sounds. As turned on as he is by the sight, Ten can’t help but make an impatient noise when Johnny continues gliding his hand up and down his shaft, seemingly entranced by the sight of his own fingers sliding over himself. Johnny meets his eyes and tuts. Ten flushes and looks imploringly back at Johnny, biting his lip. 

Johnny chuckles, but he stops his stroking to grip the base. With his free hand, he pets over Ten’s lower back, then wraps his arm around Ten’s waist and pulls him back, his chest nearly flush with Ten’s back. Trembling from arousal, Ten raises himself up on shaking thighs and starts to lower himself onto Johnny.

His whimper is matched by Johnny’s deep moan as he slowly sinks down, gripping the arm of the chair for support. He exhales and relaxes his muscles, then lowers himself nearly all the way, crying out when Johnny’s cock hits the spot deep inside him that sends waves of pleasure pulsing through his body. He finally presses his whole weight down onto Johnny’s lap, breathing out high and needy as he adjusts to the feeling of Johnny inside him, deep, hot, and slick.

Johnny digs his fingers into Ten’s hips and presses him down more, keeping him in place. Ten twitches around him, every nerve ending erupting in sparks at the slightest movement. Johnny lifts a hand to trace up his side, ghosting his nails over the sensitive skin. Ten squirms under the touch, but he tries to keep as still as he can despite the overwhelming, desperate urge to move, to grind himself on Johnny’s dick.

Johnny rests his hand at the base of his throat for just a moment – Ten swallows, blood pounding in his arteries – then moves his hand up to cup his cheek delicately. Though Ten can feel the racing of his heartbeat through his fingertips, Johnny’s movements are slow, soft, gentle, mere caresses despite the obviously thin veil of restraint that barely contains his desire.

“Look at you,” Johnny purrs, and Ten shudders out a breath in response. “Look at you. My little prince.” Johnny pets a hand through his hair. “My little prince,” Johnny murmurs again, his voice so full of tenderness and admiration that Ten thinks he might lose his mind. Then, Johnny bucks up his hips, and Ten cries out from the sudden intensity of the feeling, digging his nails into the armrest. He raises himself on shaking thighs to meet Johnny on his next thrust, and this makes both of them moan out, Ten high and Johnny low. He swivels his hips, grips both of Johnny’s thighs, as Johnny holds his hips and helps him move.

Johnny bites his ear, kisses his neck, moans into his hair. Ten, lost in the pleasure and the feeling of Johnny inside him, barely notices the burning of his thighs. He leans back into Johnny’s chest and reaches back to pull at his hair, their chests heaving in unison, Johnny’s skin burning into his back. Johnny reaches around and grasps Ten’s cock with his slicked-up hand, giving him wet friction every time he circles his hips. 

“Say it again,” he pants into Johnny’s mouth when Johnny tugs on his hair to pull him back into a kiss, then whimpers when Johnny pulls down his hips with sudden force, sending a shockwave of pleasure through him. “Tell me again – ”

Johnny needs no more convincing. He slows Ten’s movements again, groaning as they grind their hips together. “You’re my little prince. You know that, right?” Johnny breathes. “My beautiful, precious little prince.”

Warmth spreads through Ten’s body at the words, warmth that has nothing to do with the cock currently lodged deep inside him. He commits the words to memory, making sure they are tucked safely into the folds of the grey matter in his brain.

He lets Johnny bounce him up and down, using the strength of his muscular arms to lift him up and grind him back down, as Ten pushes himself up as best as he can on the armrests for leverage. “Climb up,” Johnny grunts into his ear, and Ten nods frantically, scrambling to oblige. He lifts himself up just enough to pull his feet up onto the chair, wedging them between Johnny’s thighs and the armrests. He sinks back down, sobbing out from the new angle, and Johnny groans out low and pleased in his ear. Johnny grips the backs of his thighs and helps him move, pulling him down while he breathes hot onto his neck.

Behind him, he feels Johnny’s stomach muscles, slicked up with both of their sweat, start to tense and tighten. Johnny’s breath tickles his ear when he pants out, “I want to see you, baby.”

Nearly delirious with how good he feels, Ten nods again and clumsily spins around, wrapping his legs behind Johnny’s lower back. The breath gets knocked out of him when he meets Johnny’s eyes, seeing for the first time how flushed his face looks, how the sweat dampens his forehead, how his powerful chest flexes with every movement. Johnny’s strong left hand holds him upright while he cradles the back of Ten’s neck with his other hand, pulling their foreheads together until they are panting into each other’s mouths.

Overwhelmed with the intensity of Johnny’s gaze, Ten fights the urge to close his eyes. He knows Johnny wants to see him, to see _into_ him. Seeing Johnny like this too, at his most vulnerable, his most raw – Ten’s heart nearly bursts. That sharp feeling clenches in his gut again – this time, mixed with the orgasm building inside him – and burns behind his eyes, wetting his eyelashes as it claws its way out of his body.

Johnny wipes the moisture from Ten's cheek and pulls him into a salty kiss, keeping their mouths locked together as Ten sobs, his whole body tensing as he clenches around Johnny, grabbing onto Johnny’s shoulders as he comes hard and hot onto Johnny’s stomach.

Ten clings onto him, digging his nails into the wide plane of his back, needing to keep feeling Johnny inside him and Johnny’s chest against his own for as long as possible. Waves of pleasure continue to pulse through him, make him whimper into Johnny’s mouth as Johnny throbs inside of him.

Maddeningly, Johnny pushes up on Ten’s hips to ease him off. Johnny slips out of Ten – Ten whines at the sudden emptiness, the cold – then pulls him back into a kiss. Ten reaches down between them to stroke Johnny’s cock with both hands, mewling in response when Johnny moans into his mouth. Ten releases Johnny’s mouth to kiss down his neck – that long, beautiful, muscular neck, veins twitching and tendons straining when he throws his head back and cries out. Ten licks the salt off his skin, bites at the muscle – desperate to mark him, to feel him between his teeth. Johnny’s body tenses against him, his breath quickening, and Ten tightens his grip.

Ten watches in fascination as Johnny pulls at his hair and comes hard, his cock hot and throbbing under his palm. He continues stroking until Johnny groans and pushes his hands away. Johnny rests his head on the seatback, gazing up at the ceiling as his chest heaves. Ten collapses against him, his cheek resting on Johnny’s pec, as Johnny strokes a hand loosely through his hair.

He isn’t sure how long they stay like that, Ten curled up in Johnny’s lap as Johnny catches his breath and strokes his hair. Eventually, Johnny sighs and straightens his back. He hooks a finger under Ten’s chin and tilts his head up, Ten completely pliant under his touch. Johnny searches his eyes, then his gaze falls to his lips. He presses a delicate kiss to his mouth, then mutters, “what are you doing to me, hm? My little prince.” 

After a few more minutes, during which Johnny presses more soft kisses into the skin on his neck and shoulders, Johnny shifts forward and lifts Ten by the waist, Ten with his legs still wrapped around Johnny’s lower back, and carries him easily to the bed. Johnny sets him down on top of the blanket, then disappears into the bathroom. Ten has no energy to move, so he stays exactly where Johnny leaves him. His whole body feels weak and shaky, but it feels right, somehow. It feels good.

Johnny returns with a damp towel, as he always does; then, as he always does, he carefully cleans Ten’s body, wiping the sweat and slick from his skin. Ten watches him through heavy-lidded eyes, feeling fatigue settle into his spent muscles. His stomach flutters when Johnny meets his eyes and smiles.

Johnny walks again to the bathroom down the hall. Ten listens to the shower running, closes his eyes and imagines the water running down Johnny’s body, soap pooling at his feet and steam softening the hard edges of his body. The thought alone is enough to get him riled up again, so much so that when Johnny returns wearing nothing but a towel wrapped low around his waist, Ten grabs at him and pushes up his hips until Johnny lowers himself between Ten’s thighs and pushes his tongue into him, hot and deep. Ten scrunches his fingers into Johnny’s wet hair, writhing his hips, holding him in place as Johnny licks him through another orgasm.

Unbelievably, Johnny still has work to do. After dressing in another one of Johnny’s shirts (a long tee – Johnny did not let him take out another button-up from the closet), Ten follows him back to the chair in the corner and curls up in his lap, closing his eyes and breathing slowly as Johnny continues to make his way through the stack of papers on the desk. Johnny’s left hand rests on the side of Ten's thigh, tracing circles into the fine hairs as he writes.

The fragile intimacy of it makes warmth curl like smoke into every corner of Ten’s body. It is not the cold, breathless fragility of glass or eggshell; it is soft, alive, like a baby bird cupped delicately in the palm. When Johnny exhales, Ten catches the breath in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny when Ten was wearing his shirt and nothing else: I am looking respectfully O_O
> 
> Again, this one was SO emo. I think I’ve just been listening to too much Mitski and it’s turning my brain into melancholy oatmeal. There's also literally no plot, but it's ok 
> 
> (Also, as a side note – they haven’t used protection since ch 3, but you can assume they’ve talked about it and are being safe, I didn’t include that as a detail bc it’s not really interesting to read and it’s fiction but yeah :*) 
> 
> Also also … … we’re probably (likely) nearing the end here, if you can’t already tell :]
> 
> \- xoxo, OG <3


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